THE SAND CHRONICLES: THE KAZEKAGE, THE CLAN, AND THE MYSTERY
by Hannabi77
Summary: After the 4th Great Ninja War the shinobi world covered itself with peace, or at least that's what was shown. This story will center on the Sunakagure Village. The current Kazekage is revolutionizing it, to the point of leaving the past out in the open, no more betrayals, no more secrets, he wants to create a village based on the ideals he has, but... will he achieve it?
1. INTRODUCTION

After the 4th Great Ninja War the shinobi world covered itself with peace, or at least that's what was shown. Within each village, the Kages worked diligently for their sake. This story will center on the Sunakagure Village, a city on the other side of the desert, away from the others but with many mysteries. The current Kazekage is revolutionizing it, to the point of leaving the past out in the open, no more betrayals, no more secrets, he wants to create a village based on the ideals he has, but... will he achieve it? He is not yet fully aware that he is a growing man, he still has much to live. Feelings sometimes win over reason. But even so, it is more than sure that, he will give his everything su his ideal is fulfilled.

This story will have pairs, but there won't be GaaMatsu, GaaHina, GaaSaku, GaaSari and much less GaaIno. The main canons of the story will be mostly respected. The original series/manga along with the known characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto but the story here narrated is of my own authorship.

The current cover was a work in collaboration with the cartoon artist "Sasaki NH".

I thank Lucero Isabel for helping me with the translation work.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2017

I do not want adaptations. No translations into other languages, if I see that this is requested I will do it myself.

 **INTRODUCTION**

IF YOU KNOW THE NARUTO SERIES COMPLETELY, I RECOMMEND YOU JUMP THIS INTRODUCTION, WHICH IS TARGETED FOR THOSE WHO JUST STARTED THE SERIES OR HAVE NOT COMPLETED IT, OR ANY OTHER PERSON WHO WANTS TO READ MY STORY BUT DOES NOT KNOW WELLREFERENCES, OKAY, LET'S START.

To begin, I would like to make a small review of Gaara, who will be one of the main protagonists of this story. And put a point of reference, in which the story, that I will narrate, will begin.

Gaara (我 愛 羅, Gaara) is a shinobi of Sunakagure and the Fifth Kazekage (五代 目 风影, Godaime Kazekage), he was the Grand Commander of the Great Shinobi Alliance Army and Commander of the Fourth Division. He was part of the ex-team Baki, he is the youngest son of the Fourth Kazekage and Karura, youngest brother of Temari and Kankurō.

 **STORY**

While Gaara had initially tried to be kind to others, despite the fear of his people, Yashamaru's actions and false words changed him. Realizing that no one loved him, Gaara used his sand to create a tattoo in his forehead with the Kanji for "love" (愛, ai), as a symbol of what he is, "demon who loves only himself" The height of his name, as his mother Karura supposedly believed. Gaara became emotionally withdrawn, almost silent, and was gradually consumed by a bitter hatred for all, but at the same time he was convinced that he only cared for himself and his "mother": the voice of the Shukaku in his head. He learned to find pleasure and finally a reason to live in annihilating the multiple murderers sent to kill him and by extension, anyone who threatened his existence. This was made worse by the Shukaku who did not let him sleep and as a result, Gaara sought to quench his thirst for blood, which resulted in a ruthless Gaara; Demonstrated when he murdered Bai and Midare and ignored their pleas. Gaara's insomnia was driven by the fear that the devil within him would eat his mind while he slept, it just fed into his instability and increased his desire to kill. In fact, his hatred extended towards his sibilings, since he never saw them as such, and he was completely willing to kill those who stood in his way, even his family if necessary to satisfy his desire to reaffirm his existence.

Gaara was, in many aspects, similar to Naruto Uzumaki, though unfortunately in his case, he had no one to call friend, although he had a family like his brother Jinchuriki (although he would not discover it until much later in the series), both felt alone and wanted to be loved, cared for and recognized as a human being, they wanted to be know as themselves, not like the demons they were forced to "contain" and both were led to a state of despair. While Naruto consequently developed the misconception that jokes and mischief would bring him the attention he sought, Gaara came to the conclusion that he could preserve and confirm his own existence by killing anyone who challenged him, thereby achieving an extreme form of existentialism as a key feature of his personality. In the absence of recognition from the others, Gaara could compensate this act by valuing himself, excluding all the others in a strange form of narcissism. On the other hand, while Naruto finally had Iruka, Kakashi and his friends who accepted and acknowledged him, Gaara had no one to bond with, not even his father or his sibilings, since they all despised him and feared for the Shukaku dwelling within him. The person who was closest to being friendly with Gaara was Yashamaru, his uncle, who was ordered to kill him (although in reality he could resist and he loved him truly), but with this a sociopathic and solitary Gaara was created. As such, Gaara does not understood the concept of struggle for something more than himself until his confrontation with Naruto.

After being defeated by Naruto, Gaara became surprised to see that Naruto knew very well the pain that Gaara had endured during all his life. He was even more surprised that his first friend never lost hope, that Naruto was to be recognized as a person and ultimately find friends who really cared about him. Seeing the determination that Naruto had to protect his friends and the village, made Gaara the question of his own path in life.

Realizing that he gave up so easily, Gaara decided to go on the same path as Naruto, and become Kazekage of Sunagakure so that he could be connected to his people, and he hope they finally recognized his existence as a person. In the next few years, Gaara's determination to finding happiness was evident from his decision to rely on his own power instead of that of his inner demon. Gaara Eventually formed a close friendship and brotherhood with Naruto.

Since Gaara has become a friend very close to Naruto, thanks to his new attitude, he has been able to change the personalities of people towards him, like Matsuri who had fear of weapons, Ōnoki at the Summit of the Five Kages, convinced virtually everyone in the alliance of discarding their old enmity and to fight together in the Fourth War, and even Naruto when he reflects on what he will choose to do as a friend of Sasuke. This seems to be a similar trait of Naruto's, a way of showing how much he's changed since before. Not only that, but by his close bond and the great gift Naruto has, he has also been shown to have no grudge or hatred against such a person, not even his father, who was largely responsible for the miserable childhood that he had.

Despite being relentless against his opponents, Gaara appears very protective of allies and innocent people, as seen when he protected his people from Deidara, and his brothers, Darui and even the Raikage against Sasuke. He also seems to understand in depth those who have endured the horror of loneliness and hatred of the past by the looks in their eyes, such as Naruto, Kimimaro, and even Sasuke.

As a Kage, Gaara believes that the ideals of previous generations, that each group has their own affairs and can solve their own problems without having to ask the help of others to maintain the appearance and honor, for him is a "ridiculous argument" and that cooperation between people is fundamental to defeating the Akatsuki (which turned out to be only a group manipulated by Obito) and save the world.

 **WAR SUMMARY**

After the confrontation against Madara Uchiha and Obito, who had proclaimed the 4th Great Ninja War to the Five Great Shinobi Nations, which in turn formed the Great Shinobi Alliance, to face those who had defied them, being made known in the war that Obito was a puppet of Madara and at the same time was used to release from its prison the real danger, Kaguya Otsutsuki, who managed to place the world in the technique of the Infinite Tsukuyumi, for the second time, in the history of the Humanity. Except for Konha's team 7 and their mentor Kakashi, they managed to avoid the technique and save humanity from it, re-sealing that monster that was Kaguya and undoing the technique that put everyone in the infinite dream.

 **GLOSSARY**

There will be words that I will use in the native language of the manga/anime nipon, to give understanding of ranges or kinship and to abbreviate words that would be quite difficult to use.

 **San** : Prefix used, following the name, to call the person with a certain degree of respect, example: Temari-san, Naruto-san, Kankurō-san, etc.

 **Chan** : Prefix that is used, following the name, to call the person with a high degree of trust, be it friendship, brotherhood, fellowship. It is mostly used in names of girls, although it is also acceptable in boys. Example: Sakura-chan, Temari-chan, Ino-chan, etc.

 **Kun** : Similar to the prefix "Chan", but with the difference that is used for boy names, Example: Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun, Gaara-kun, etc.

 **Aniue/Onee-chan/Onee:** It means "older sister"

 **Nii-san/Onii-chan/Nii:** It means "older brother"

 **Otouto:** It means "younger brother"

 **Himouto** : It means "younger sister"

 **Bijuu** : Demons or beasts with tail, which are result of the division of the First Bijuu, in total there are 9 beasts, which they own according to the number equivalent in their tails.

 **Jinchuriki:** Human container, capable of keeping a bijuu sealed inside it, and based on their ability, to manipulate it.

 **Sama** : Prefix that follows after the name, it is used to demonstrate a high respect for the person who is being addressed, it would be the equivalent to "lord or lady", and is usually used to address the high ranks (Kages, feudal nobility, clan leaders) example: Gaara-sama, Tsunade-sama, Raikage-sama, etc.

And last but not least important the definition of **Kage** plus its allocation according to its village.

The **Kage** (影; literally meaning "shadow") is the leader of one of the five large villages and usually the strongest ninja in their respective village. They collectively are known as the Five Kages. If a Kage has held its position for several decades, as in the case of the Third Hokage, a younger ninja is likely to be stronger than them. In such cases, the Kage may withdraw and give the title to another person, the title, once granted, is maintained permanently. This creates a special case where there are two Kage at a time, but only one of them is active, as it was with the Third and Fourth Hokage. After the Fourth died, the Third left his retirement to return to his activities. The Kage is on equal footing with the rulers of their countries, supervising the activities of their villages, and are the leaders of the ninja society. Usually they are the ones who send the ninja teams out on their missions and make decisions regarding the safety of their people. The Five Kages are:

The Hokage (火影; meaning "Shadow of Fire") of Konohagakure.

The Kazekage (風影; meaning "Shadow of Wind") of Sunagakure.

The Mizukage (水 影 which means "Shadow of Water ") of Kirigakure.

The Raikage (雷 影 which means "Shadow of Lightning") of Kumogakure.

El Tsuchikage (土 影: meaning "Shadow of Earth") of Iwagakure.

Although the leaders of other hidden villages can be as strong or stronger than any if the Kage, their villages have not won enough acknowledgment to enable them such title. In the anime, Hoshigakure has nicknamed its leaders as Hoshikage (星 影:it literally means "Star Shadow"), which means that their ambition is to be recognized as an equal by the five great villages. However, this title is only a name, and the Five Kages do not recognize them as their equal.

Since the creation of the jinchüriki, it has become a tradition that the hosts of the beasts are selected from the Kage family of the village. In this way, the jinchüriki not only has strong ties of loyalty to the village and its leader, but also serve to show the power of the Kage. [1] For example, Killer B is the adopted son of the Third Raikage, Gaara is the son of the Fourth Kazekage and Naruto Uzumaki is the son of the Fourth Hokage.

Well, with this, you have everything that is necessary for you to know, in order to start reading my story. I obviously, give credit to the Naruto Wikia, since there is where I got much of the information.

See you at the end of the first chapter :D


	2. Chapter 1

It has been nearly seven months since the last great war that the shinobi alliance encountered came to an end.

At the Sunakagure quarters, one of those many post-war meetings that the high ranks and the feudal lord had organized to keep abreast of the political, social, and economical recovery of their village as well as that of the allied nations, had come to an end.

The Feudal Lord was the first to come out, his face suggesting he was pleased, the clan leaders followed him, some serene, some cold and finally followed by Baki and the assistant of the Medical Chief, who was in charge of presenting the general report of the hospital at meetings in representation of his superior.

"Our village is about to be back to normal, almost completely, that is good, Shun," Baki says, as she serenely looks through the quarters' windows at the villagers going through their usual day.

"You are right, Captain Baki," the assistant responds, as she excels and relaxes imitating him by looking through the windows. "I can feel peaceful times await us."

"Yes, but…" Baki's gaze becomes cold, "we must be alert even in peaceful times."

"Oh… Yes," Shun says, smiling as they disappear through the halls, "Very true."

Still at the conference room.

"Today was a tiring day," _Kankurō says, letting out a sigh as he sits once again and spreads his feet on the great conference table. "But it seems it was worth it… Did you see the peace those boring old man carried in their face?" He asks as he watches Temari help Gaara organize the papers from the most resent meeting. "Hey! Hey!" He calls trying to reach the attention of his responsible siblings. "Temari, Gaara… leave that aside for a moment, relax, the conference has already ended…"_

"Shut up, Kankurō!" Temari says angered by seeing him fresh like a lettuce. "Instead of being lazy, help take these documents to Gaara's office." After saying this she lays a pile of documents in front of him, causing him to fall backwards with the simple sight.

"But… what… what… is this?" Kankurō asks, as he gets up. "I don't recall so many accumulated documents in the meetings."

"The thing is that," says Gaara joining the family chat, " all this execs paper is due to the monthly report presented by the Medical Chief at the general hospital.

"Ah, certainly," says Temari, as she rests her arms on the table and gives a yawn. "Tell me, Gaara," she turns to her youngest brother, "What do you think will happen from now on? The village is returning to it's stability, but… will we be able to have peace?"

"Temari… The question has such an obvious answer, right, Gaara?" Kankurō says fixing his gaze on his younger brother.

"Are you referring to Naruto's teammate, the bijou and the traces that Kaguya may have left?" Gaara responded staring into space and recalling memories of the war. "Is that your concern, Temari?"

"Um, that is what I'm worried about," she says with a hint of sadness.

"And you are right to worry," Kankurō says, putting on a thoughtful face. "That Uchiha is a big problem. He is in prison now, but I would not be surprised if he was released at any time. Konoha protects him and with that three-eyed monster that looks like an old woman, it is safer to use him to tack possible clues. Well, I think we have nothing more then to trust in the rationing of t leaf. We don't want the world to be full of pain and suffering once again. That Kaguya has already done enough damage to our history. Let's hope the Uchiha does not do the same…"

"No, that will not happen," Gaara interrupted his brother, he closes his eyes and exhales, "Not as long as they have him…"

"Him?" Kankurō repeats disoriented. "Oh! You mean, him!" He says remembering and smiling with relief.

"So you mean him, huh?" Temari says smiling. "I sometimes find it hard to believe that that, scandalous dwarf, we once knew, became a hero."

"Aha," Added Gaara, as he reopens his eyes and recalls the words of the revived Mizukage, whom they had fought in the war, "Naruto Uzumaki… a great idiot… a great friend… and now, a great hero."

Somewhere in Konoha, more exactly Ichiraku Ramen.

"Ah... Ah... Ahchoo!" Naruto said as he let out a huge sneeze, which almost caused the noodles to come out through his nose. "Um... Someone must be talking about me, dattebayo," he said as he wiped his nose with the sleeve of his jacket.

"Haha, I suppose that is the price you pay for fame," Naruto said Iruka, "while offering a napkin to him to clean himself, "You will have to get use to it."

"Hehe, Iruka sensei, thank you," he said as he took the napkin. "Do not say that, you ended up causing me to worry about it. I have been suffering harassment for the past few months…"

Returning to Sunakagure, with the sand siblings.

Finally leaving the conference room, Kankurō is first, fallowed by Temari and lastly Gaara, each with a huge pile of papers.

"This is very heavy," Kankurō says, complaining, "I am an elite jounin, not a caring donkey or the service genin..."

"You look like a complaining little girl," Temari says indignantly, "remember that it is our duty to help Gaara, we are his siblings and trusted people, it should be an honor for you, so stop complaining and walk faster!"

"Hump... honor to be brothers," grunts Kankurō, "listen Gaara," he says as he turns his gaze to his brother the Kazekage, "remember my brother's honor" when you have to pay me the percentage of my next mission.

"Kankurō!" Temari exclaims reproachfully, "how are capable of-"

"Okay," Gaara says, interrupting Temari and surprising Kankurō, "I'll remember that the day when you finish paying off all the payment advances I've given you..."

"Hoho," Temari laughed with amusement, "What was that you had said about having already finished paying your debts, eh, Kankurō?"

"Eh? Etto...etto..." The puppeteer, turns his head so they do not notice the shame that reflects upon his face, "Gaara exaggerates. I only owe a couple of months..."

"With the minimum rate you pay, it would be about a year and four months," Gaara says as he mentally calculates.

"Gaara!" Shouts Kankurō angrily and embarrassed, "that information is private, it should not be revealed to the public!"

"Hum, did I say something bad?" Gaara asks, confused, seeing his siblings, one angry and the other laughing.

"Haha don't worry Gaara," Temari answers, trying to stop laughing, "it's not your fault that Kankurō squandered his money. Hahaha."

After feeling such shame, Kankurō could only release a "hum" of indignation and concentrated on being on his way.

And so, all the way to the Kazekage's office, Temari laughed at his chestnut brother and Gaara followed behind them with his normal little expressionless face; Upon arriving at the office, Kankurō settles the pile of papers he had in his arms on the Kazekage's desk. He makes an exaggerated gesture of exhaustion and throws himself on the couch that was on the side of the office (couch that Gaara placed in that place do to the insistence or "suggestion" of his dear and abusive siblings).

"Ahhhh," emitted Kankurō as he stretches out on the couch, like a cat who just woke up from his nap, "Yes, I'm tired."

"Alright, make me room," says Temari, with a lest than feminine action, she pushes her brother, forcing him to seat instead of laying down, "You're not the only one who is tired around here. I am so tired..."

Gaara, who, had just entered his office, also set the papers aside and sat on his comfortable Kazekage armchair. He watched as his two lazy siblings complained, for some reason he was glad to see them. Not enough to want to smile, but just enough that his eyes shone with joy at the sight of them.

I haven't even been in command for three years," he thinks," and these two demand comfort from me as if they were feudal lords." He closes his eyes to come with a conclusion, "Without a doubt, I am spoiling them."

Suddenly, Temari gets up suddenly and with a serious tone says:

"Well, enough of these games," She draws closer to the door. "Kankurō, Gaara, it's getting dark, it's time to go home and rest, tomorrow will be a heavy day."

"It's true, tomorrow it's my turn to watch the east side of the village, it will certainly be a long day," Kankurō says as he gets up and heads for the exit. "Let's go ..."

"I'll stay for a while longer," Gaara says quietly, still sitting in his chair, "go ahead."

"Gaara! It was a heavy day, especially for you, you should not demand too much of yourself, come home with us," he said with a tone of pity in his voice.

"No, I'll stay just a little longer, do not exasperate Temari, I have to check some papers that I missed at the meeting," the redhead begins to go through a sheet that he brought in his pile of papers, "I will not be long, I insist."

"But, don't you think-" the blond nods, insistent.

"Leave it Temari," Kankurō interrupted, apparently understanding his brother. "Gaara is the Kazekage, if he want to stay a while longer, let him, he'll see us at home; Don't take too long, Gaara," he said, turning to look at him sideways, "Or I'll eat your dinner, you see, Ito-basama is cook sunagimo," Kankurō finished speaking and was the first to leave.

Gaara frowned, he had practically forgotten how special dinner was that day, but duty was duty. It always first.

"We'll see you then, don't delay," Temari said, before leaving and closing the door.

Once alone, Gaara relaxes, and sighs tiredly, takes the papers seriously and starts to check them, suddenly he distracts himself, then turns his seat towards the window and begins to contemplate the slow darkening of the sky, making noticeable the round and huge moon and a few stars.

"Why ... What..." murmurs Gaara a little sad and thoughtful "Why do I feel that I still lack something?" His eyes twitch and he turns his seat back to his desk. "I've been in charge for a considerable amount of time, but I still do not know him in person." He speaks to himself as he picks up some papers and reads almost without interest. "Why hasn't he talked to me? Or is he that way with all the high ranks? Now that I remember, Baki once told me something..."

** FLASHBACK ***

Gaara's first official meeting as Kazekage had ended; Although on the outside his face reflected great security and leadership, his inside was considerably stressed, not to mention Temari and Kankurō, they were made a bundle of nerves, both internally and externally; But in the end, everything turned out to be well accepted by the high ranks, who withdrew without any complaint or observation.

At his office, alone, he was finishing signing the papers from the recent meeting, when all of a sudden he heard knocking at the door.

Knock... knock... knock...

"Come in," Gaara says in his typical calm voice.

Then, the door opens, Baki appears with some papers.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Gaara, I've come to give you these documents," Baki explains as he puts the stack of papers on his desk. "Because of some mishaps, the Head of the Medical Corps could not get them to the meeting and asked me to apologize for the delay, that's all."

Gaara watches the papers for a few seconds and then looks back at Baki.

"I see. Baki ... I have a doubt," said the rookie Kazekage, a little uncertain, "This is not the first time that the Chief of the Medical Body is absent from the meetings organized by the council; I have the feeling that I do not have his acceptance as a leader, that may be a problem in the future-"

"Problem?" Baki interrupts confidently, "Do not worry about it. What happens is that you are just a new high rank, and that's why you do not know several things."

"Several things?" Gaara says confused. "Explain yourself."

"The head of the medical corps is a very unsociable person," Baki explains. "I understand that in the hospital she only interacts with a very small number of people, only with her four disciples, after all the hospital is forbidden to speak to her, do to being harassed by a multitude of fanes, a couple of years ago, and if you think you do not have her acceptance, I'm afraid to tell you that you're wrong, in fact, apart from the feudal lord, the medical chief voted for you, when they maid the decision to chose the next Kazekage, and that influenced a lot so that the other clans also accepted you.

"Then, why does he avoid me?" Asks Gaara, even more confused than before, "not long ago, I requested a meeting in writing, with his pupil who represented him in my proclamation of ascent to Kazekage, in a few days I received his reply, he refused me the request, arguing that my request was useless, unfruitful and unnecessary and that I better take care of my role and to not disappoint him after giving me his trust..."

"Ah ..." Baki says in a somewhat stunned and with a forgetful tone, "If that is the root of your worries, you should reassure yourself."

"Reassure myself?" Gaara says, even more uneasy. "Is there something I do not know?" He asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Well, if..." Baki said with a little regret, seeing that he had hit the nail, "What happens is that between your father, the 4th Kazekage and the Medical chief there was a kind of complication, both personally and professionally."

"And why does it have to affect me?" Asked a confused Gaara. "By acting like that, he only reveals he is unprofessional," he exclaims with a slight tone of annoyance.

"What is happening is that," explains Baki, interrupting him again. "Due to some orders, which were given by the 4th Kazekage in the past, much suffering was brought to the clan of the Medical Chief, especially to her closest family. Maybe that's why the Medical Chief-"

"Treats me with disdain," Gaara said, completing Baki's sentence. "Now I can understand everything. I think that for the moment I can't do anything, rather than be patient and wait for the Medical Chief to forgive my family one day for the way my Father was with his," he finish saying, unable to avoid reflecting great sadness on his face.

"For the moment, I'm afraid that's the only option," Baki, nodded seriously. "If that's all, with your permission, I'll retire."

Gaara nodded as a signal, Baki disappeared from the office, leaving an inert and muted Kazekage with a stair into emptiness.

*** END OF FLASHBACK ***

Gaara finishes recalling, and realized that for the moment, it is best to omit the concern related to the Medical Chief; He quickly checks the papers he was missing and retires from his office, heading for his peaceful room.

 _"I hope I have not delayed for too long," he thinks." I don't even want to think about that cheeky Kankurō devouring my dear sunagimo dish," he frowns and advances, "Sunagimo-chan... wait for me..."_

Minutes later, he arrives at his house and goes directly to the kitchen and finds his two siblings about to start dinner, Ito-basama (who was an old woman who worked as a maid in the Kazekage mansion, even long before the three were born) was serving dinner.

"Good evening, I'm home," Gaara said as he slowly entered and took a seat in the large dining room that hardly ever used and was almost always empty.

"Welcome home," his siblings said in chorus, while they handed him a napkin, to receive supper.

Not that they had always done that, but since returning from the Chunin Exams a couple of years ago, their behaviors and ties as siblings began to reinforce, even though they lost their strict father, their absence united them even more. Temari and Kankurō ate as fast as possible before Gaara arrived at the table, because of the fear that was unfounded in them, but now, it bothered them a lot that he did not come to dinner, there were even occasions where they took the dinner to his office and forced him to eat while they helped him with what they could including paperwork and other jobs that accumulated on their little brother. Perhaps before the word "family" meant almost nothing, but since they had these resounding events in their lives, the meaning of "family" was what kept them together, living as true siblings, perhaps or rather, no doubt approaching what their mother had wanted for them.

Seeing them already sitting, Temari said quietly:

"Well, I thought you weren't having dinner with us, Gaara."

Her redheaded brother was going to respond, but soon Kankurō joined the conversation.

"It's normal that on Fridays like today, Gaara arrives on time for dinner, he never misses on a Sunagy Friday, right otouto-chan?" He said with a clear intention to annoy.

"And leave you all the sungay? Never," Gaara answered dryly.

Then Ito-basama adds to the "friendly" sibling conversation, while serving his plate to Gaara.

"Good evening Gaara-chan, I cooked your favorite dish today," said the loving old lady, as she brought the bowl of soup to the Kazekage, "I hope you have an appetite, enjoy it. And if you want an extra portion just ask me," she said in her soft, slow, tired and very quiet voice, a dignified grandmother's voice.

"I thank you, Ito-basama," Gaara replied with a tone of respect. "You seem tired," he added. "For today, you can rest, my siblings and I will make sure everything is clean."

"You are very kind," said the old woman, with a gracious smile on her face, "but you should not worry about me, Gaara-chan. It's true that I'm an old-timer, but... I love this kitchen, so much so that if I go to sleep, I will not be able to do it, since I'll be restless, thinking if you did leave it clean." She walks towards the kitchen. "I'm not saying that the young people of today don't know how to clean, it's just that they have a much simpler concept of clean..."

"But..." is all he can say, distressed Gaara follows the old woman, who moves further and further away with his eyes. "But..."

"Leave it, Gaara," Kankurō says with his mouth full, "old people are proud, you should know, remember the Tsuchikage?"

"What Kankurō says is true, Gaara," Temari says, watching them with a smile. "The elders often refuse to receive help, they say it's dignity or something like that, relax, Ito-basama is strong."

"Ha," is the only thing Gaara can say, he nods and returns his attention to his plate.

And so, the sand siblings enjoy one more family dinner.

After that night, the following days were the usual routine for these siblings. Gaara, like all of Kage, was tasked with assigning missions to his subordinates, handling diplomatic matters in his village as well as in other nations, travel, paperwork... and once or twice having to dodge a fangirl. Kankurō and Temari took on the role of supervisors in the vigilance of the village, special missions, and of teachers at the school they had created and relatively, sometimes during their rest, they accompanied Gaara on one of his diplomatic trips...

Almost without realizing it the days, months passed and a complete year went by.

Almost two years had passed in the blink of an eye since the last Great Ninja War, as predicted by Kankurō, Sasuke Uchiha was released from his sentence and now roamed the world in search of his so-called "redemption." The present Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, had advocated for him, from the moment the five kages began to congregate, and they were able to reach an agreement, he would be forgiven in exchange for working for the Alliance. Besides that, the five great nations maintained their treaties of friendship and peace, the Kages met occasionally to discuss questions concerning the political territory and as indicated by their feudal lords in the economic sector.

Gaara as always was organizing some documents in his office, when suddenly he shuddered feeling two undesired beings who begin to knock on the door in a consecutive, insistent and annoying way.

Knock, knock, knock... Knock, knock, knock... Knock, knock, knock... Knock, knock, knock...

"Not again," Gaara murmurs to himself, regretfully, making a face.

 _"Maybe, if I ignore them, they will think that I am not here and they will leave," he thought. "Although_..."

"Gaara-sama, Gaara-sama!" A chorus waz heard outside, the voice of "those" two girl...

"Come in," Gaara answers as he closes his eyes, preparing himself for what he will have to endure.

Then Matsuri and Sari enter the scene, opening the door with such brutality that it seemed as if it had been pulled out of the wall.

"Sorry to interrupt, Gaara-sama!" They say in unison. "Here I bring you the report of the north gate's surveillance," Matsuri says, as she approaches the desk and extends her hands with the papers, exaggerating her movements, bowing her head, as if it were an act of devotion to a saint.

"Oh, wait, Matsuri," Sari says angrily. "It was your turn last time, now it's my turn to deliver it," she says, as she also grabs the papers, trying to take them. "Give them to me."

"Sari, wait," Matsuri says as she struggles and refuses to hand over the papers. "That was the time before, you're wrong, now it's my turn," she insists.

"No! It's my turn," Sari says, pulling to her side.

"You're wrong, it's mine," she insists towards her side, Matsuri.

"It's my turn-"

"No, mine-"

"Mine, don't try to trick us..."

Gaara, apparently already accustomed to these scenes, ignores them, and dedicates himself to writing and filling in the reports; Temari arrives in minutes.

"But what is all this scandal?!" She demands angrily, while she takes the report and glares at them. "You should be ashamed of the way you behave. Immature brats!"

"We're very sorry, Temari-san," said the two in unison, as they ducked their heads apologetically.

"The next time I see you interrupting and deconcentrating the Kazekage, I will do what is necessary to degrade you to genins," says Temari, looking at them with malice.

"To be degraded to genin?" Matsuri, repeat with fear, "No, Temari-san, please don't..."

"Please forgive us, Temari-san," Sari adds, "it will not happen again, I beg you..."

"Then, go!" Temari said, sharply, without sympathy.

"Yes!" Was the last thing these two exclaimed before they ran away.

Temari, seeing that she got rid of the unwanted, puts the documents from her hand on her brother's desk, relaxes and sits on the sofa that was exclusively for Kankurō and she in that office.

"I appreciate that," Gaara says, still writing his reports.

"Oh..." Temari answers, puzzled as she sees her brother in concentration. "It's nothing, Gaara," she smiles at him. "That's what the older sisters are for, to look after our little brothers, especially the outcasts," she laughs.

"And I appreciate what you do, Temari," Gaara says, stopping his writing and looking at his sister in the face. "You came at a good time.

"Er... yes," she says, not knowing what to say. "I don't know how you stand it, Gaara. In my case, I would stand up and shout at them, to make it clear."

"You think I have not tried?" Gaara says calmly.

"What? Have you tried to talk to those two?" Temari asks, in amazement.

"Mm..." The redhead nods, and seems to be remembering, "I tried to sound as socially crude as possible, but they did not listen to me. One started talking to the other and started another one of their discussions... For the moment, my plan is Ignore them."

"Ah..." Temari says, understanding, "but if your plan doesn't work and things get more complicated, have you thought of what you're going to do?"

"I'll have to take drastic measures and cut off the root of problem," Gaara says, sounding more serious. "In fact, I've got everything planned, just in case."

"Oh, yeah?" Temari asks surprised, and then smiles graciously. "And what will it be? I have faith that it won't be what Kankurō once told me. That I he would use me as a bodyguard, once he became famous among the girls... Which never happened, obviously, how ridiculous and delusional he was," she finish saying while laughing.

"Etto... etto..." Gaara could only articulate that, as his face showed unease, when he saw that his sister had almost hit the nail. "Not really, I was thinking more like... My... assistant," he finished saying. He did not know what was more embarrassing, that his sister had called him ridiculous indirectly or that Kankurō and he were not so different in thought, they were brothers after all.

"Gaara!" Temari exclaims somewhat indignantly, completely erasing the smile of her face.

"I'm sorry," Gaara says, as he faces the floor, regretfully, "but are there any other solutions?" He asks as he puts the most naive face possible.

"Umm..." Temari thinks. "Of course there is, Gaara." She comes towards him, grinning at him with the widest smile she has, and looking at him with a sly look, which instantly disturbs his brother. "Get married and everything will be solved."

"Get married?" Gaara replies in astonishment, "but-"

"Yes," Temari continues, as she returns to sit comfortably on her couch, "once married, your fanes will keep a distance out of respect to your wife. It has been a month since you passed the majority age. If you don't choose now, those council elders will soon find you a wife for their convenience, you better choose your wife now that you have the time. Unless you don't mind if they choose you for you."

"Wife?" Gaara repeated, even more alarmed, "But, Temari..." He says as a drop of sweat slides down his forehead, "I do not think I'm ready for that..."

Then, Kankurō enters from nowhere, apparently managing to hear the last of Gaara's dialogue.

"Oh, don't tell me," he added, the chatter, "so you decided to get married. Gaara, tell me, which one did you choose to be your wife? Matsuri? O Sari? Oh for me, my favorite is Sari, she's more gentle. You should choose her, but, if you like Matsuri, there's no problem. You should know her better, since shr was your student and-"

Seeing as his brother did not stop talking, a vein of rage begins to form on Gaara's forehead, until he can not stand it any longer:

"Idiot, stop talking nonsense, for the moment I'm not going to get married, and if I ever decide to, be sure my wife will not be any of those two!" The Kazekage finish saying almost to the edge of the screaming.

"Neither one of them? Why?" Kankurō asks, more confused than he was worried of making his brother angry.

Temari, who until that moment had just been watching them with an open mouth of amazement, gets into the discussion.

"What do you mean, why? Kankurō, "Temari said angrily," those girls are obsessed with Gaara, they don't even know his faults, what he feels, what he thinks; In theory, they see him as a supreme perfect being, they do not even care to know how he feels whenever they harass him."

"But that's the way young people are, right? Is there something wrong with that?" Kankurō asked.

Temari grabbed her head with her hands in frustration, she couldn't believe Kankurō had such a wrong way of thinking, she was going to talk, but...

"Of course there is," said Gaara, winning the words from his sister. "I don't want to be united to a person who defines me, as a perfect man, because I am not. I admit that, for now, I do not want to get married, since I still don't know what I want that special person to have... all I know, is that, I want to fall for her first, that she treats me like any ordinary man, and then make her fall for me, not because of my rank, nor my appearance, nor my virtues... But because of my defects, the way I am, my boring character, you know what I mean... that me, which only you two know..." An air of sadness, took hold of his face, he turned his gaze to the side with dissimulation, so that his siblings didn't notice.

"That was a very wise thought, Gaara," Temari said, with her eyes full of tenderness.

"Hey, that was very complex," Kankurō said, as he put a hand to his chin, trying to fully understand what Gaara had meant. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

Gaara stared again at his siblings and showed them a big smile drawn on his lips, they, upon seeing him, were amazed; Even for them, it was very rare to see him in that way. Then Gaara closed his eyes and remembered a conversation he had had with his uncle.

"I remember..." The redhead stuttered for a second, "that... Yashamaru once told me that love is important because, thanks to it, we have the strength to fight against adversity, the reason why we want to protect our loved ones, the reason a wounded soul heals, the reason one can be happy... That's why I want a pure love."

"Ah, I understand," Kankurō says, a little more rational. "Wow... " In a more joking tone. "Who would have thought our little brother would be so serious and mature. Gaara, you make me proud."

"Kankurō!" Temari says, frowning. "Remember that Gaara is the Kazekage, have more respect," she says, still complaining.

Then, Gaara gets up from his desk with a couple of papers in his hands and walks to the door in silence, while his two older siblings follow him with his eyes. The redhead stops at the door and before he leaves he turns to them and says:

"What you said, Kankurō, it's very true," his siblings smile. "But," Gaara adds. "It's a pity that I can not say the same about you," this time Gaara gives them a smile with malice and returns to his walk, leaving behind an enraged Kankurō mumbling profanity to his name and Temari grabbing him so that he did not follow him.

"Damn it, Gaara! You pedantic brat!" The puppeteer screams angrily. "I tried to be friendly with you and you respond to me like that? Come here miserable! Be mature and excuse yourself on your knees..." Was what could be heard down the hall while Gaara walked away...

Temari, who was still grabbing Kankurō with one hand so that he didn't get up, grabbed her head with the other hand and sighed with reluctance.

"Damn, these two are quite a case, when they start to bother each other like brothers," said the blonde.

The Kazekage is moving away from his office, walking at a medium pace, carrying with him a pile of documents; He continues walking until he leaves the mansion and the Kazekage headquarters.

 _"It's a pleasant afternoon," He thinks, as he sees the blue sky with one or two tiny clouds on it, he feels the warm desert wind on his face and starts walking again, heading for one of the main streets, where the locals walk in big numbers._

"Look, Mommy," a little girl begins to say, pulling her mother's skirt, who had her hands busy with shopping bags. "Look, it's the Kazekage."

Then her mother pays attention to her little girl and responds smiling:

"Ara... You're right, my girl, it's the Kazekage. Why don't you go and say hello?" She advises her girl, who runs to stand in front of Gaara and with a smile from ear to ear speaks:

"Good afternoon Kazekage-sama," says the girl, speaking as clearly as she can, and with her eyes still shining. "How are you?"

Before talking, Gaara, bends down on one knee to be closer to the little one's height.

"Good afternoon, little girl," he says, trying to smile, even slightly, but only manages to make a face. "I'm fine, thank you for asking. Tell me, what's your name?"

"My name is Agatha, Kazhekagemsa..." Says the little girl, bowing her head in embarrassment at not being able to speak well, but still cheerful.

"It's an honor to meet you, Agatha, my name is Gaara. I can tell that you're a good girl," he puts one of his hands on the little girl's head and shakes her hair as a compliment. "Go back to your mother, take care of your loved ones," Gaara says, getting up and walking again.

"Yes, Gaara-shama," the little girl responds with joy as she carries one of her hands to her head like a little soldier. "You will be proud of me," she thinks, as she returns to her mother.

Immediately the other inhabitants notice the presence of the Kazekage among them and begin to greet him and Gaara responds but without ceasing to walk.

"Oh, good afternoon Kazekage-sama," a man says from the door of his tent.

"Good afternoon," the redhead responds, nodding very slightly.

"Good afternoon, Gaara-sama," says a lady who was crossing the road. "It is pleasant to see you among us, you simply honor us with your presence."

"Good afternoon, your words eulogize me, thank you," Gaara replied.

"Hello, Kazekage-sama!" Reigned in chorus, a group of young shinobi, who were apparently on a walk during their break. "Would you honor us with your presence and eating with us?" Said one of them.

"Good afternoon, thank you, but no, I have work to do," said Gaara, raising the papers as an excuse, although he was in fact under service. He had never agreed to eat with subordinates. He was humble in several senses, but for him the hierarchy was very important, the rules were rules and he loved to fulfill them. Only with few did he make exceptions of the rules.

"Oh... That's to bad," the group of young people say in chorus. "Gaara-sama, do not work too hard!" They repeat in unison and then quickly disappear because of their boldness and disrespectful recommendation.

Gaara turns to see them, but they are no longer there and he goes back to his path.

 _"Nowadays, the young shinobi are very out of place, they don't know how to treat their superiors," he thinks, "although..." He hesitates, "I believe that I am the only person, who hardly takes days off... Maybe, I am working too much..."_

And so, after walking for about half an hour and saying "Good Afternoon" to a hundred people with smiles and annoying flattery, Gaara finally reached his goal: The General Hospital of Suna.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hey, what did you think? Criticisms, hypotheses, doubts? Leave them in the comments. :'D

I'll be waiting, bye. ^^


	3. Chapter 2

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 2

Gaara enters through the hospital's main door, and notices the empty environment, he goes to the reception, there was no one tending it so he rings the bell.

 _"Usually, this place is known to be full of people," he thinks, "but apparently they rest on certain days... I think it was a bad idea to come, maybe it's also the Medical Chief's rest day, perhaps my attempt to meet him was useless."_

Then, he is tended to by a nurse, which takes him out of his thoughts.

"Excuse the delay in tending to you, Kazekage-sama," said the nurse, as she settled into her receptionist's seat, somewhat nervous from his presence. "We didn't have a confirmed visit to the hospital from you today, I think we have maid an error with the calendar... Perhaps the schedule was not updated..."

"I didn't come on a scheduled visit, that will be the next week; I came with the intention of having the Medical Chief meet with me, but, apparently there is almost nobody here, he may not be here-"

"Right this moment, she happens to be in her office, the Medical Chief practically lives here, since she is imperative to the hospital," said the nurse, cutting off Gaara's words.

"But do you know if he's available at the moment?" Gaara asked, trying to control his anxiousness, perhaps this would be the opportunity he had sought, he would not allow it to go to waist. "Because it's urgent that I speak to him."

"Yes, just a few minutes ago I arrived from her office, she just gave me her last report of the day. If you like, I can ask for an urgent meeting with you, right now, it will only take me a few minutes to announce your presence and motive, for now you can wait and sit in the waiting chairs that are right behind you. Would you want me to send you a cup of tea with one of my co-workers while you wait?" Said the nurse, as she concentrated and typed non-stop on the computer in front of her.

"I'm grateful, but I must speak to the Medical Chief and I can't wait," Gaara replied, as he firmly pressed the papers in one of his hands. "Don't bother to announce me, I will go directly to introduce myself and talk to him," saying those last words, he started walking down the main hallway towards the Medical Chief's Office.

"But... Kazekage-sama... wait... this..." Were the only things the nurse managed to emit, raising her hand in the direction of the Kazekage, but he was already to far away, and surely he would not hear. "I may have mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that the Kazekage-sama said "him" to the Medical Chief," said the nurse, as she put her hand to her chin, thoughtfully.

Once in front of the Medical Chief's office, Gaara was about to knock on the door, then he stops in thought.

"I have a feeling something is not clear," He mutters, holding out the hand that he was about to use to open the office door. "I understand that the Medical Chief has a bad temper, and is intolerant. I should leave these papers at the reception and insist on scheduling another meeting, but, I'm already here... Besides, I have the right, as a superior authority, no doubt, he must tend to me."

"Hey! Why do you take so long? Come in already, turtle!" An annoyed voice from inside the office is heard. "Hurry up! Do you plan on staying out there all day? I don't want to waste my valuable time. I think I shouldn't have accepted even with your insistence-"

"Excuse me, but I..." He said in a forceful yet hesitant voice, Gaara was annoyed by the way he had been spoken to, "I demand respect from you," he spoke firmly as he opened the door, to face the moody speaker... But he was petrified, only finding a half-naked lady sitting on a stretcher in the middle of the room. She had her back turned towards him, so he couldn't see her face, only her bare back followed by a small massage towel that covered just her waist...

"Why are you paralyzed, Shun?" The girl asked in annoyance, not realizing Shun was not the person behind her, her head was down with her gaze lost into emptiness. "Hurry up!" She finished saying as she began to turn her head to see who was in the doorway.

Gaara barely managed to let go of a sincere, "I'm sorry," as he slammed the door and leaned for a fraction of a second on the hallway's wall. His face went blue from the shock, he had never seen such a scene. He took his free hand to his face, trying to hide it, he felt dirty, unworthy, trash... all the adjectives that came to mind.

 _"How could I have mistaken the room?" He kept repeating inside his head as he tried to move at a fast pace. "I hope this misunderstanding doesn't bring consequences." He stopped, once he saw two nurses running toward him, both somewhat scared._

"Kazekage-sama! What a relief that we found you, I thought you had found the Medical Chief's office," a nurse said, the same one who had taken care of him at the entrance. "Thank goodness, what a relief."

"It was luck," said the other nurse, an older woman. "I just don't want to think what could've happened; Forgive us Gaara-sama," she says to the redhead, "my partner gave you wrong information, our leader is busy at the moment and will not be able to attend you."

The Kazekage could barely hear her, because he was still submerged in his guilt, having to do with the incident that had occurred moments ago.

"I see," he says, calming himself and answering with seriousness, "I just came to deliver these papers, these reports are missing some signatures," he headed them over to the older nurse. "Please deliver them to my office, first thing in the morning," he finished saying as he retreated slowly.

"As you order, Gaara-sama," said the nurse, as she received the documents. "But, I wanted to ask you something, to get rid of my doubt..."

At that precise moment, the redhead was paralyzed, he continued to face his back to the nurses.

"Tell me, I'm listening," he said, a little cold, but inside he was nervous.

"You didn't go into the Medical Chief's office, did you?" The older woman asked.

"No," Gaara answered, not even turning to look at them.

"Ah... What a relief..." The nurses said, sighing and relaxing as they hold a hand to their chest to reassure themselves.

"But..." The Kazekage, stuttered as he turned to look at them; He felt like he had to get off his chest, what he had done. "But I made a mistake, I went into a room thinking it was the correct place where the Medical Chief's office was, and I saw a naked lady, who seemed to confuse me with another person named, Shun. I feel so guilty for my indiscretion..." His gaze focused on the ground, his face turned blue again.

The nurses were petrified for a moment, the confession made their eyes open wide.

"What? You did what?!" Said the oldest of the nurses, in an exalted, trembling voice.

"Gaara-sama..." was the only thing the other nurse managed to utter, while she put her hands to her mouth, her eyes showing fear.

"I am sorry, I know I did wrong, I know..." Added the redhead, his face showing he was overwhelmed. "But it was not intentional, you must believe me!" His voice sounded uneasy, but sincere. "Please... When you see her, I beg you give her my sincere apologies."

The older nurse took a hand behind her head and began to scratch as if she was in doubt, she turned her gaze to one side, her face showed she was distressed...

"I don't doubt your words, Kazekage-sama," she said, "but I'm afraid the Chief Medic will not forgive you that easily. Especially when it comes to you... She must be so upset that she could kill us all if she finds us at this moment," she put on both a face of panic and resignation.

It was at this moment that Gaara understood something he had been misunderstanding all along.

"The Medical Chief... Is that Miss who was naked?" He said with the greatest naivety and astonishment that was possible for his voice to show. "I always figured it was a man and not a woman." His face showed confusion and a little embarrassment. "I was really wrong..."

"It's just outrageous of you to believe Ann-sama is a man," the older nurse said reproachfully. "Everyone knows she's a woman! Well... Everyone, except you..."

"Gaara-sama, how is it possible that you confused Ann-sama with a man?," The other nurse spoke. "She may not be femininity in person, but it is impossible to confuse her with a boy..."

Gaara let out a sigh of regret, at this point he felt ashamed of himself.

"I truly am sorry to have created this situation, it was not my intention to offend your superior. I'd better go back and apologize directly and formally to her, if I explain my reasons and the circumstances in which everything happened, I'm sure she'll understand..." He finished as he started walking toward the Medical Chief's office.

"Don't!" Cried the nurses in united horror, as they stood in front of the Kazekage to block his way, with their hands held out. "No, it's best to leave it like this..."

"But, why not?" He said, looking at them puzzled.

"Etto... Because... It's not a good idea..." Replied the older nurse hesitantly. "Ann-sama would not understand it, she has somewhat of a special character. She'll most likely end up hitting you if you do what you plan."

"That's exactly what I want to do," a dark voice was heard behind her, "what the Kazeidiot did is worthy of a beating."

It was then, that the nurses turned to see who was behind him, they jumped out of fright, sheltering comically behind the Kazekage, who did not move, he looked more curious than frightened of the character who had appeared in front of them. She wore a full-bodied white robe, misaligned, her fingers barely visible, her face almost completely covered by the veil that accompanied the tunic, which was badly placed. The only thing that could clearly be seen was the gesture of anger her lip showed.

"Ann-sama, you should not go out showing yourself like this," the older nurse began to say as she let go of her fright and stood in front of her to trying to fix her clothes, "I... I was already going to your office..."

"Leave it alone, Shun," says her superior, as she grasps one of her hands, stopping her from touching her. "Stay away, don't bother," she said as she shoved her roughly to one side with her arm. "It's not like, the "Kazeidiot" hasn't seen me already in a more uncomfortable and embarrassing condition," she finished speaking, giving a clear hint of annoyance towards the redhead in front of her.

"The thing from minutes ago, was not on purpose, however, it was a mistake from my part. You have a right to be bothered; But I sincerely regret what happened and ask that you please accept my apologies," Gaara answered in a serious and serene voice, to Ann-sama's words, as he bowed slightly, showing that he sincerely accepted his guilt and apologized.

"Do you think your apologies are of any use to me? Don't be so stupid and naive, the moral damage to me is already done. Do you think a few words can make up for everything? It seems that you are not aware of the level of authority I possess in this village and what this entails. I am not one of your fanatics, for you to believe that with your "sweet, stupid words" you'll be forgiven from your lewd acts. Pervert!" The Medical Chief finished speaking almost in screams, clearly showing all her annoyance, as she pointed in a contemptuous way towards the Kazekage.

Gaara could not help but feel overwhelmed by the situation, a drop of sweat slid on the side of his face, he knew, he was mostly innocent of the accusations she was imposing on him, but the way that woman in front of him, scolded him, made his stomach hurt, in a way he had never experienced. In part, she reminded him of when Temari scolded Kankurō loudly, to the extent that he took a good biting from his sister when they were at home and argued about cleanliness. He was always oblivious to that situation he now and then witnessed, but now, living it in his own flesh, he felt sorry for his brother not present, and promised that the next time he saw them arguing, he would help him to avoid the mistreatment he suffered from Temari.

While he was stuck in his thoughts for seconds, the nurses tried to plead in his favor, persuading their leader to avoid becoming aggressive, by reminding her that they were in a hospital.

"I don't care about your opinions, stop supporting the pervert in front of me, traders," Ann said, raising her hand in the form of a fist to show her disagreement.

The Kazekage came out of his little trance, showing calmness he approached closer to his aggressive opponent and with serious and diligent voice he gave himself a place to speak.

"I'd like to discuss this privately." The two nurses glanced sideways at each other. "I'm sure we can come up with a solution, as a way of making an amendment, for what happened..." He finished, staring, firmly and confidently at the barely visible eyes of the Medical Chief.

Ann heard the redhead's words, touched her chin, put on a thinking pose for a few seconds, then left it and let out a sigh of great regret.

"Okay," she said in a bad tone. "In private I have a higher chance of beating you without anyone getting in the way," her lips showed a smile full of sarcasm and malice. "Shun, go ahead and quickly organize my office," she says to her subordinate. "And you, return to your work, you are forbidden to say a word of what you saw or heard here. You understand, correct?" She finished speaking to the other nurse with a dark tone in her voice. "Go."

The two nurses nodded and left in opposite directions from the corridor.

The Kazekage and Ann stood for about a minute, they could feel the heavy mood. Their faces reflected seriousness, especially Gaara's, while in the little that was shown of the Medical Chief's face, her expression took the consistency of a puppet, inert... No, empty would be a more correct definition.

Gaara was going to articulate a few words, to break the mood, but, Ann turned her back on him and started walking toward her office. He limited himself to only follow her step. The silence became reigning, in that short journey.

They reached the place indicated, Ann entered, opening the door, followed by the turquoise eyes.

"Shun, leave," the Medical Chief said indifferently as she settled into her seat, behind her desk.

"Yes, Ann-sama," replied the subordinate. "By the way, I left the papers that Gaara-sama handed me back on your desk. Excuse me, I'll leave now," she said before disappearing from the scene.

Ann glanced again at the visitor in front of her.

"You can have a seat, unless you feel more comfortable standing," she said as she gestured Gaara to sit down. "Let's see what you have to say."

He took a seat, he was about to speak, when he stopped to see that the Chief Medical took off the turban that hid most of her face. What he saw, left him speechless; It was a woman who seemed to be about the same age as him, she had her hair collected in a somewhat scruffy ponytail, causing a few strands of hair to fall on her face and forehead in a humorous way, her eyes were the color of honey, and despite her annoying countenance, he could not help but notice the perfection of her face, reminded him of the porcelain doll Temari had recently bought and had occasionally seen the days before when entering her room.

"Going back to the previous topic, I want to explain what happened, I'm sure you'll understand..." Gaara began, as he kept looking at the girl in front of him.

"Boring," she said, cutting off the red-haired man and gazed at him with disinterest. "This subject has bored me, I will be benevolent to you, I will forget what happened, but you have to give me what I demand in return. And this will be the only solution I accept.

"I understand," the Kazekage said, his gaze softening. Apparently, for him, his namesake was just a grumpy person but not someone to be above negotiating. "And what is you asking for in return? As long as it does not violate the laws of the village, it may be conceivable."

The Medical Chief wrote something on a small note and threw it down the table, landing right in front of the redhead.

He lifted the paper and read carefully what it said, he could not help but look astonished. What she asked for was not that big of a thing, at least not for him.

"You sure you just want this?" He looked again, naively, at the sight of the girl in front of him.

"Eh," she said with a little eagerness. "What is written there, I will not accept anything less, but if you want, it can be more," she laughed in a strange way. "Deducing from what your face reflects, I seem to understand that you don't know what it is that I ask for... Do you know where you can find it?"

"I have an idea of where I can get it," the Kazekage replied with remarkable confidence as he placed the note in his pocket. "As soon as I get it tomorrow, I'll bring it to you."

"It's not necessary, if it is possible, just send it to Shun, she'll give it to me," Ann said.

After that, that theme was taken for granted. So the Kazekage could finally speak of why he had come.

"My visit was to bring you the documents you have in front of you," said Gaara, "they have some irregularities..."

The Chief Medic took the papers before her and began to leaf through them, while she took a pen to her mouth, checked them over and over, but found no error, and began to frown more, to the degree of angering once again.

"I can't find faults here. What is it that I'm supposed to see?" She said, reflecting annoyance in her voice.

"It has no faults," said Gaara calmly, "they are incomplete, they're lacking seals of approval."

"Seals? Which ones?" She said with pretended amazement.

"They're the footers," he pointed out.

"Ah... Those seals," Ann said in a bored tone. "They are so insignificant and unnecessary that I had already omitted their existence years ago..." She dropped the papers suddenly on her desk and scratched her head in the manner of idleness. "They are simply a waste of time and ink," she added.

"Meaningless or not, they are to be sealed," Gaara remarked, feeling patience abandoning him. "I am the Kazekage, and my job is to supervise that everything is executed according to the political and administrative norms of our Village. I have often ignored this fault, but I will no longer admit incomplete documents, whether you like it or not, I will give it back."

After she had finished hearing what the Kazekage said, Ann silently took her seal and put her mark on all the existing sheets of the report, put them together and extended them to Gaara.

"There you are," she said, as she got up and went to the door of her office, "to your bad luck, I no longer have time to listen to your complaints. Don't forget to stick to what was agreed, or you'll regret it. You may retire."

"But... There are other matters I wanted to discuss with you," he inquired, without moving from his seat, "I demand a few more minutes of your time-"

"I told you to leave!" Said the Chief Medic, raising her voice so much that, had it not been for her expressionless face, she would have looked very angry. "I will not repeat it again."

"All right," Gaara replied, seeing that her position was non-negotiable. "But I warn you, I will not give up on meeting with you to discuss other outstanding issues." He got up and went to the office exit, where she was waiting with the door open. With your permission..." He emitted as he left.

"Hmm... Goodbye," was all Ann said.

The Kazekage turned to tilt his head as farewell, but he barely had his feet outside the office, when he felt the door abruptly shut in his face.

 _"I think she hates me," he said thoughtfully. "I know I was not opportune with my arrival, but, at last I could tell her the most important thing, and at least the documents will not be incomplete..."_

And then, suddenly, as he was walking toward the exit, deep in his thoughts, watching the hospital's atmosphere, a nurse stands in his way.

"Gaara-sama..." The senior nurse, who turned out to be called Shun, stuttered at first. "I'm surprised that Ann-sama attended you so quickly, she did not hit you, right?" She finished with an uneasy voice.

"Hit me?" Gaara repeated as he stepped out of his thoughts and paid attention to the nurse in front of him. "No... Why should she?" He answered.

"No, no, no reason," said the nurse, gesturing with her hand as she retreated, noticing that she had asked too much. Forget what I said, please," she added in the distance.

"Mmm...?" Was the only thing Gaara could emit, as he watched as the nurse disappeared.

"I do not understand what she meant, whatever..." He thought to himself, as he crossed the threshold of the hospital toward the street.

He went to Headquarters, straight to his office, left the papers in his hand, organized his desk a little and retired to his home.

"I'm home," the redhead closed the door, took off his shoes and placed them next to his siblings', then went to the living room where he met them. They were lying on the huge sofa they had which was blown up by popcorn, while watching a movie. It was a stage worthy of his two pig older siblings.

"Oh Gaara, welcome home, come, take a seat," said his onee, noticing him and beginning to push Kankurō with her feet to make room on the sofa. "The film is in the best part," said the blonde effusively.

"Good you're here, Gaara. We were beginning to worry, you left the office without telling us where you were going," said the puppeteer, sitting properly on the sofa to make him room and let him sit in the middle of him and Temari. He extended the bowl of popcorn. "Come and sit."

At the insistence of his siblings, the redhead joined them to see the film, yes, he preferred to sit on the carpeted floor, which compared to the sofa, was free of popcorn. A few minutes passed, the film did not catch his attention, it did not make him want to laugh and be astonished to see it as his brothers did, but decided to accompany them to finish watching. As soon as it was finished, Ito-basama called them to dinner.

They were already in the middle of dinner.

"Hey Gaara, tell us where did you go?" Asked the chestnut, as if to make conversation, while engulfing a piece of meat. "If you had not been so long, you'd have arrived in time to watch the movie from the beginning..."

"I had to finish with some administrative documents that were from the hospital, some were incomplete, so I went to there, so that the Medical Chief signed them, and I discovered that "he" is actually "she"..."

Temari, who was limiting herself to just listen, almost expelled everything in her mouth, out of amazement, she almost chocked and began to beat her own chest for it to pass, she took water and drank it, all this while her brothers watched her in astonishment.

"Gaara, how could you possibly think that the Medical Chief was a man?" She said at last in a tone of astonishment.

"Ah, ah..." He replied, annoyed. "You already knew?" He inquired.

Both his siblings, and the old lady who was present, raised some of the dishes that were already empty, burst out in shrieks of laughing. Provoking Gaara to feel embarrassed of himself, he felt his cheeks heat up and take on some red colors he had never experienced.

"Don't tell me you guys already knew," he added indignantly, as he looked inquiringly at his siblings. "Why didn't you tell me before? That way I would have avoided making a fool of myself," he added mildly annoyed, but given the circumstances it made the moment more humorous.

"But everyone knows she's a woman," Temari said, holding back her laugh and taking a hand to wipe the tears from her laughter. "Sorry Gaara, but how could we know that it's hard for you to tell a man from a woman? Although, I don't want to judge you, you know?" The tone of her voice became more serious. "The Medical Chief does not have a very feminine character, besides how she dresses and how we almost can't see her face, are things that do not help. I suppose that it gets people like you who do not pay attention to appearances in detail," she said.

"If I had known that you were going to her, I would have accompanied you. I dream of getting an autograph from her, it's difficult to see her, and even worse to talk to her."

Gaara looked at Kankurō with curiosity. How was it possible that his clueless onii-san knew more than he, about someone; Especially the Medical Chief, who he spent years looking for information and an excuse to approach her.

"What do you mean by that autograph, Kankurō?" The redhead asked directly, showing great curiosity. "Is she famous apart from her job as a Medical Leader?"

"Huh? Of course she is very famous," said the chestnut, to the ignorance of his otouto. "I think it wouldn't hurt you, to look at the real social world, you only inform yourself about politics and economy, but there is something called social news, you know?"

"Social news? "Tell me more about that," said Gaara, overflowing with astonishment and curiosity.

Temari watched with annoyance at Kankurō, in a way, she did not want him to talk to Gaara about those issues. But she decided to let him, since he was partly right, and his otouto had to be aware of that world, because he was part of it already, and in the future he would be more involved in it.

"Well, I'll start by showing you the most important thing, this," Kankurō said, pulling out one of the magazines he and Temari used to glance at, in their leisure time, which was filled with articles with pictures of people and cosmetic advertisements.

"Are you telling me that there is important information there?" Gaara said as he looked skeptically at the brochure his brother was looking at, apparently looking for something. "For a moment I thought you were more cultured than me, what a disappointment..." He finished saying as he lost interest and returned his focus on his dinner.

"Hey, hey, wait! I've found it, here, just read it and you'll give me the reason," said the chestnut while passing the magazine to the Kazekage. "Read it, you'll know what common people think of us and the clans."

Gaara, with much skepticism still in his face, took the magazine, and reluctantly began to read.

"And in first place, for the twenty-fourth consecutive time, as was to be expected from her thousands of fans, our dear Ann-sama, the covetable beauty! Tenderness, kindness and sensuality personified; Besides directing the general hospital of our village, this beautiful genius, is the first-born of the most powerful and influential clan that is in Suna, was the one that occupied the position of military leader in the years in which the clan of the Kazekage went into recession for lack of a successor. She is the founder of the open-air theater that was inaugurated more than five years ago. Even without reaching the age of maturity, she has the record of the noble lady who has received the most marriage proposals, nobles from other countries have even come to propose. Making another record, she has rejected 108 suitors, all noble. The latest being the second son of the Feudal Lord. We are sorry for him!

But who wouldn't surrender to her charms? She inherited all the physical features of her clan, surpassing even her own mother, who in her time came to position herself in this same post, although not so continuously, in her youth. And it's because the beauty of the children of the sun never goes out of fashion!"

Gaara finished reading, he was looking at the image that was used as a reference in the article, it was undoubtedly her, it was a profile photo, where she was shown in a traditional kimono, although the whole image was perfect, he noticed that her face reflected a great emptiness, it gave the impression that she smiled, but he was not deceived by such things, he had never seen a more false smile in his life. They had forced her in the picture taking or everything was a brazen editing, very contrary to reality. Or at least, it was not what he witnessed when he meet her in person.

He frowned unconsciously, what was written was considerable information, yet not useful but no doubt he was bothered to see how they exposed someone that way, even though it was the person who treated him badly. Was there no respect for privacy? She played an important role in the welfare of the village. Why didn't the leaders of her clan do anything about it? They were talking about their future leader in an un-respectful way. Or were they aware of all that pathetic talk?

"Well, what do you think? There was information you didn't know, correct?" Kankurō said as he resumed his dinner and looked at the redhead defiantly, causing the latter to come out of his meditation. "Say something, you've made a strange face," he said.

"Ah... I read things I did not know about, though, it's nothing important or useful to someone like me," Gaara said sincerely.

Kankurō looked bored as Temari watched him gracefully. It was then that the puppeteer looked at her with malice as he remembered something.

"Gaara, go back to the previous page, you did not read everything," said in a funny tone, the puppeteer.

His blond sister waved her hand, she tried to pounce on the magazine to take it from Gaara, but he instinctively elbowed her hands, and moved by curiosity gave a glance to the previous page.

"In second place, we have the most fearsome kunoichi of this time, Temari, the oldest sister of the Kazekage Gaara. With a beauty inherited from her mother Karura-sama, the wife of the 4th Kazekage, this beautiful young woman has come to highlight, but not only for her appearance, but for her skill and technique in handling the wind element, she is very skilled and deft and very sagacious at the time of the confrontations with her enemies. But what makes her fearful is her temperament, she is very serious and with a strong conviction. Woe to him who dares to underestimate her!

After the article, there was a photo of Temari, where she posed with her fan, in an attack position and with a defiant look on her face, she was very happy, truly happy.

Gaara looked at that picture with pride, at least they had not talked about his sister in an unseemly way, and they showed that she was happy being who she was.

Temari, on the other hand, was looking at Gaara with embarrassment, she had never received criticism from him, and that was stressing her, Kankurō looked at her with a teasing smile.

"You look imposing and strong there, Temari," the redhead interrupted the silence, while he gave her the magazine she had tried to take minutes ago, she on her side, took it. "I like knowing that the others see you, as I see you," he said. He gave thanks for dinner and got up, it was time to go to bed. "Good evening..." was the last thing he said before he left the scene.

Temari on her part embraced the magazine with a big smile, and said good night to her brother, while she continued to eat dinner, Kankurō looked at her with suspicion and indignation, he was so upset that he didn't even respond to Gaara when he said goodbye.

"Why did he just flatter you and not me? I was the one who showed him the magazine," protested the brown-haired boy, in a bratty way. "One of these days I'm going to disappear just so you can suffer and realize how bad you were with me, and it will be too late for you to repent," he threatened

Temari hugged him by the neck and pulled him toward her, smiling tenderly.

"Dummy, don't say that, even if we don't show it, Gaara and I love you very much, do not be exasperated by that."

"Hmm..." Kankurō folded his arms, pretending to be difficult. "Whatever you say, second place..." He smiled wickedly.

It was there that the chestnut received a blow on the head from his beloved sister. They had a very strange way of showing love, those two.

Gaara already in his room, prepared to take a bath, after he left there in a robe, then he put on his pajamas and laid back on his bed. He began to meditate on everything he had done during the day.

"How could I know it was a girl?" He thought aloud as he switched off the light from his lamp. It was the first time he had seen her closely, he remembered her bad temper, and the similarity that she had to Temari in that aspect when she was angry; That day, he had received his first scolding from a woman, and he remembered a phrase that his friend, Naruto, had once said when the war had just ended and he was in the hospital. His teammate, Sakura, had scolded him for having gotten up from the bed, since his condition was fragile.

"Women are scary when they're angry" A small grimace was drawn to his lips, "Now I can give you the reason, Naruto." He covered himself with his sheets as he closed his heavy eyes and surrendered to sleep.

At that exact moment, but in the hospital, two men and two women, caused a commotion with the paperwork that had come to them by surprise.

"Ann-sama, I think we will not finish tonight," Shun mourned, leaning her head on the table, which was flooded with disordered paperwork. "I should have brought myself a pillow..."

"Stop complaining, you're going to infect me with your laziness," said Isaí, a man of about twenty-seven, brown hair, slim physique, but of average appeal. He sealed the papers at an inhuman speed, the bad thing was that he threw them, messing them up more. "Damn lazy-"

"Shut up, Isaí-chan," Shun said, trying to curl herself over the table, over the papers, "I'm just taking a break-"

"Damn! Get down from the table," Isaí inquired, leaving his work aside, climbing to the table to push Shun to the floor. "You have no right to take a rest, lazy-"

"Hey, hey," interrupted Nan, the youngest of the three, he was at least 20 years old, black hair, he did not consider himself attractive, but he was not an ugly one either, as he himself said. He rose from his seat and raised the table on one side, causing the other scandalous two to fall to the floor. "Less talk and more work," he replied.

Then the three began to insult themselves, leaving papers on the ground and flying in the air.

"Hey you, brat! Who gave you the right to throw the table?!" Shun shouted.

"True, you're a bastard, Nan," Isaí added, as he gripped his hand with much annoyance.

"Yes... Yes," an indifferent Nan repeated, "I just wanted you to concentrate. "You know, if we continue like this, we will not finish not even at dawn."

The Medical Chief, who concentrated in reading some papers, was indifferent to the chaos that were being produced in her office by her assistants. She would stop her reading, once in a while to take a sip of her soothing coffee. But the disturbance overcame her concentration, perhaps because of exhaustion, so she got up from her desk and went to the folding table where her assistants were, right in the best part of the fight, since they were already clutching hair as in a "girl" fight.

"If you are wasting your time with your childishness, I suppose you have already finished the paperwork I asked for, no?"

Shun, Isaí, and Nan were frozen at the sound of their superior's voice, she sound grim, plus with the empty expression on her face she sounded like the voice of death, so at the speed of light they picked up the disorder they had caused and continued to work hard in silence.

Ann stopped watching them and went to her window.

"It's a shame you all have to work till dawn. It's a night with nice weather. Oh... Look, there are a lot of people walking in the street," she says, as she looks out the window of her office, which gives a wide view of the city. "Poor people, if you hadn't let all this paperwork accumulate before, you would be out there, along with all those ignorant and mediocre people. Living your common and happy lives... It's a shame... Huhuhu..." She finished saying as she put a hand to her mouth to cover her malevolent smile and took a seat on her desk, once more.

"Ann-sama, you are cruel..." all three of her assistants cried in chores.

"Huhuhu... Am I?" Ann laughed, then changed her face to one of intrigue.

The attendees lowered their heads in sadness, only managing to emit a "mmm..." while they continued working on their things.

"Okay, okay, don't put on those long faces." She rose from her seat again and crossed her arms as a small smile formed on her face. "You can leave, I'll finish what's missing."

"Ah, really? Ann-sama?" Said her subordinates in unison, she had never behaved so kindly, they stared at each other in astonishment.

"Huh? Are you all still here?" Ann said as she smiled at them and approached their table, while holding her coffee in one hand. "Or would you all prefer to stay and help me?" She glanced at her cup of coffee and then extended it out to them as an offering. "If you want, I can share some of my coffee..."

Ann did not even get to finish her entire sentence, by the time her assistants turned to dust, disappearing at the speed of light, or rather, like roaches escaping from the light.

"What a way of loving their work, well..." She said to herself, giving a long sigh of disappointment; She fixed her gaze on the jungle of papers on the table. "I suppose it will only be you and I alone again... Iderum..." She said as she touched the Phoenix-shaped tattoo inside her left hand and ripped it to the extent that it bleed.

"You're very flexible with the humans around you, child," came a voice from behind her. It was a type of animal invocation, a phoenix of great proportions, it occupied almost half of her office, it was beautiful, just seeing its golden feathers gave the sensation of transporting you to a world of fantasies. "Well, I suppose we'll spend another night, just the two of us alone, including every weekend, just like we've been doing since ten years ago," the bird said, trying to move in that little space. "I hope you give me something for our anniversary, you know... I like-"

"Shut up!" Said Ann annoyed at the many words of her companion, "stop talking bird, and organize this disaster, you know how."

"Alright, I was just kidding," the phoenix spread its wings slightly, causing a strong wind to form in the room, which lasted only a few moments, causing the papers to flutter and fall neatly in towers on his mistress's desk. The folding table sat in a corner, it seemed as if he had used magic. "And what do you have planned? Will we go to your house or stay here as usual?" Asked the phoenix, as he looked at his mistress with disguised sadness in his bird's eyes. He already knew the answer, but he asked for pure euphemism.

"Ah, we will do the same as always, Iderum," replied his young mistress, leaving the cup from her hand on her desk and approaching the phoenix to caress his bearded and beautiful head, while he corresponded to her caresses by shaking his head slightly and closing his eyes.

She turned away from him, went to her desk and took a pillow and a blanket, climbed over Iderum and settled on his back; The phoenix, on the other hand, huddles on the ground, as if it were his nest.

"Good night, Iderum."

"Good night, mistress, rest. I have the feeling that tomorrow will be a very long day for you."

"Ha, I know..." She said, as she settled down on her side and closed her eyes, surrendering to dream, "I know..." was the last thing she murmured before falling completely asleep.

Iderum bent his head to the ground, until his beak touched it, a tear fell from one of his eyes, touched the ground and it unleashed a kind of barrier around the entire room.

 _Sleep easy, Ann. I will be protecting you ... forever ... and ever._

A new day began at Sunakagure.

Knock, knock, knock, was heard at the a door.

"Gaara, are you awake? I'm going to go in..." Came a voice.

The young Kazekage was in the middle of his morning shower, he felt the door to his room open and someone walked in with a quiet step.

"Kankurō, is that you? I'm busy, if you have something to tell me, tell me while we have breakfast..." he said, because if it was Kankurō, it was usually not of the utmost importance, at least, not that day.

"I'm not Kankurō, Gaara," a female voice interrupted him, "that lazy man must be asleep, even more then usual since he has the day off."

"Oh, right," Gaara said as he stepped out of the shower, wrapped himself in a white coat, his red hair still dripping with faint droplets, which soaked a little, his fine face; He put a small towel on top of his head to dry faster while he massaged it roughly with his hands, the way he did it looked like a child who was just learning. "What's so urgent that you had to make me hurry out of my shower, Temari?" The redhead asked, still rubbing his hair with his towel gracefully.

His sister looked at him in amusement, approached him and removed the towel.

"That's not how it's done, you are rubbing very hard, at this pace you will only hurt the skin of your head and you could become bald in the future, let me help you, and as I do you can learn the correct way to do it. Lean your head a little."

Gaara looked a little perplexed at his sister, but did not respond, instead he obediently, ducked his head as she asked. She put the towel on him and began to massage with her hands in a very soft manner. He felt like she used her fingers more, not the trunk of hand.

"It's as if you're picking up sand with your hands slowly," the redhead said, a little astonished, giving his understanding.

"Yes, that would be a way of explaining it," Temari replied, then retracted the towel. "Now your hair is dry and without having to mistreat it," he said as she returned the towel to her brother by placing it on his shoulder.

Gaara touched his hair, checking the truth of his sister's words, and nodded slightly at her as a form of thanks. Then he looked at her again, waiting for her to talk about her business. From her part, she understood and prepared to continue.

"Well, truthfully, it's not very important, Gaara," Temari said, sitting down on the small sofa in his room. "I wanted to ask you a favor," her voice became anxious, "I-"

"A favor?" Gaara repeated as he cut off his sister's words. "Like brother or Kazekage?" He was direct. "Now that I remember, today you must travel to the Konoha village, you should have already left..."

"Yes, I know," replied Temari, turning her gaze to one side and taking a hand to the back of her neck, she was tense. "That's just what I wanted to talk about, you see, I would like-""

"I'm sorry, Temari, but I can not postpone your trip, you must go," Gaara said, trying to figure out what his sister wanted to ask. "You have to carry valuable and classified information, I would not commission this mission to anyone else," he explained.

"Ah, I know," Temari said, annoyed, because he would not let her explain, "What I want is-"

"You must go, I will not assign this mission to anyone else, do not insist," Gaara said.

"Fool! Don't rush to conclusions of what I'm going to ask!" Temari cried annoyed, got up and took her brother's shoulders aggressively. "I did not mean what you think, I have no problem with going to Konoha, on the contrary, I want to be there as soon as possible. I wanted to ask you to extend my stay in Konoha, from four to seven days. It doesn't matter if later you discount them from my days off." She let go, realizing, that maybe she had exaggerated a little.

Gaara's eyes were wide with amazement. Had his sister yelled at him? And had she insulted him, had she been about to hit him? He began to feel a little terror at the sound of her.

"Gaara, then, can you help me?" Temari spoke again, seeing that her brother was very quiet, and that you could almost see the panic in his face. With the hands in the form of a prayer, she looked into the redhead's eyes, in a sweeter, kinder way.

"Ah... If you plan to replace them with your days off, I suppose there's no problem," replied the redhead, coming out of his shock. "But-"

"Seriously? That's great," Temari interrupted, and began to head out of his room. "See you in a week, Gaara, take care of that idiot, Kankurō, in my absence."

"Wait!" He asked with curiosity.

His sister stopped at the door, turned to see him, with a huge smile on her face, it was possible that not even she was aware of the smile she reflected.

"Huh? Did you want to tell me something?" She asked in a cheerful tone.

"Ah... Nothing," replied Gaara, preferring not to ask, "be careful on the way, I expect positive news of the mission, see you."

"Of course, of course, don't forget who I am," Temari waved her hand in a farewell form and then disappeared from the scene.

The Kazekage was absorbed for a moment. Why did Temari want to stay longer in Konoha? Why did he feel afraid when she had screamed? Everything was very bizarre, anyway.

He went to his wardrobe, dressed and left his room, and then went to the dining room of his house, where Ito-basama waited with his breakfast.

"Good morning, my child," said the old woman, "breakfast is served."

"Good morning, Ito-basan, thank you," he replied as he sat down to savor his breakfast.

Apparently today he would be having breakfast alone, Temari had already gone to Konoha and Kankurō surely would sleep all day. He had breakfast quietly, until the chestnut appeared, he was well dressed, with casual clothes, hair styled and without a gram of makeup.

"Hey Gaara," Kankurō said as he sat down and smiled a big smile. "It's a beautiful morning, is not it?

"I suppose so," said Gaara almost indifferently, as he savored his breakfast, though he noticed the splurge of joy his brother professed.

The sand siblings' breakfast continued to be calm, Ito-basama told them that Temari had taken a large portion of food and casual clothes, which seemed funny to Kankurō, and to Gaara... Well, he was left without knowing why Kankurō laughed. The latter was the first to get up from the table, arguing that he had plans for the day, Gaara seconded it was time to go to his office, where he would face paperwork, shinobi with mission reports and a scheduled meeting with the elders and influential clan leaders, a long day, no doubt.

She sat down in her office, grabbed her coffee cup, took a big sip, and began to check her papers.

"Mmm... I wish I were still asleep," Ann said to herself, speaking as she leaned her head on her left hand and with her right hand flipped papers, "If only I could, I'd change my body with a cat-"

She is interrupted from her out loud thinking as they knock on the door.

"Come in," she said, a little disheartened.

Then Shun, who was the right hand of the Medical Chief, enters the room.

"Good morning, Ann-sama," she said as she entered with a paper tower, "I bring you the corresponding reports for this month."

"Great, more damn work," Ann interrupted. "What could be worse?"

"Etto... Maybe it's a bad time," Shun crossed her arms and grabbed her elbows, as if preparing for a scolding, "but today you have a scheduled meeting with the high commanders, even the Feudal Lord will be present..."

"Damn it!" Cried Ann, rising abruptly and heading to the window. "Now how do I dodge that tedious meeting?"

"Ann-sama, why dodge that meeting? It must be very important..." Shun expressed concern, "You have been able to avoid them in recent years, but I think if you keep dodging meeting with others, it will bring bad consequences-"

"Shut up," I did not ask for your advice or opinion," she reproached her, "Just limit yourself to obey my orders. I'm going out for a while, take care of the papers on my desk, make sure everything is ready, and excuse me with that troop of cretins."

"Yes, I will, I beg you pardon me," Shun replied, watching as her superior retired.

Gaara sighed in relief, he had finished putting the final stamp on his paperwork.

"I finish just in time," he thought, as he looked at the table clock he had in his warm office; It marked a little after midday, gave him enough time to go out for lunch, it was Friday, so he would visit the restaurant that was just outside the village; It was a long journey, but there they served the most exquisite sunagimo he had tasted, that and, also Ito-basama did not cook every Friday, she only maid breakfast and then took the day off, leaving to visit her family.

So he took the wallet he had from one of the drawers of his desk, slipped it into the pocket of his trousers under his Kazekage robe, and withdrew from his office toward the roof of the building.

"If I walk through the streets as usual, I'll be late," he thought to himself. "I'll transport myself with the sand," he began to break into tiny fragments of sand scattering in granules flying in the wind.

She entered the shop, but found with misfortune that it was a small restaurant; As she had no problem with it, she sat down at the only table left free, it was long and wide, for about eight people. But it didn't matter, that day she did not really care about anything.

The waitress soon appeared on the scene, and began to speak to her in her shrill voice.

"Welcome, sir?" She hesitated for a few seconds, she did not know exactly if she was talking to a boy or a girl, since this character was wearing loose pants, an overcoat with a hood on, and hair coming off badly, covering most of the face and gave to question whether it was a careless girl or a mysterious boy. "What would you like from the menu?" She asked and then began to recite the full menu.

"Whatever, just bring me something to eat," the character replied, interrupting her, "and make it quick, and... and... a cup of coffee."

The waitress, seeing the attitude of the client, turned her mouth to the side and simply wrote the order and retired, but not without blaspheming something between her teeth.

The unfamiliar character laid back on it's arms, leaning them on the table. She moved her head down in a sleepy form waiting for her request. Everything was quiet, until, a person entered the door, all the people around her rose, bowing to the newcomer, she didn't even need to lift her head which was stuck to the table, to know who it was.

"Kazekage-sama, welcome..."

"Kazekage-sama, it's a pleasure to meet you in these humble places..."

"Gaara-sama..."

"Kazekage-sama..."

The noise ceased within a few seconds. The cook himself attended the "celebrity", and guided him to the only table available, or at least that was what he believed.

"Hey boy, get up, if you're sleepy, go home and rest," he said as he laid his hand on the supposed "boy's" shoulder, this one, on the other hand, did not move even a little and remained laid back. "Rude loon, get up! The Kazekage needs this table, get out!" Said the cook, annoyed at the stranger's actions.

"Well, Kazidiota is unlucky, I came here first and I do not intend to move," the unknown person replied as she lifted her head and with one hand clutched the cook's hand, pulling it away with disgust from her shoulder and showing annoyance in the little face that could be seen.

"You," the cook exclaimed angrily as he gestured for the other waiters to get the undesirable out of the place.

"No need to resort to violence," Gaara replied quickly, getting involved in the scene. "I just need a place at the table, there's no need to expel anyone here." He finished speaking as he sat quietly at the other end of the large table.

"But Kazekage-sama," insisted the cook, "this man lacked respect!"

"Hungry people tend to become hostile," Gaara said. "I insist, I do not need the whole table for me, please, everyone present here, go back to your own things," he said as he glanced at everyone on the other tables who had been watching the scene.

Everyone returned to take care of their lunches, including the cook, who asked the Kazekage his order from the menu, he in turn, replied that he would order the usual.

A couple of minutes passed and the waitress appeared with a plate and a cup of coffee for the other occupant of the table of the Kazekage.

The unknown person raised her head and looked at the plate, which consisted of a kind of poorly made sandwich, which she didn't doubt that might have been desecrated inside with spit from the cook as a vengeance for the scene, so she limited herself to take the cup of coffee in her hands and savor the aroma that it sent.

"It's certainly not my day," the strange character whispered to herself as she laid her head on her left hand and grabbed her coffee cup with her right hand.

At the other end of the table, Gaara could not help but feel guilty about the ill treatment they had given the stranger. He had come to think that it would have been better to have stayed at the mansion and taken one of the tappers with food that Ito-basama kept in the refrigerator. His plate arrived almost immediately after that of his companion, he had a delicious plate of sunagimo in front of him, but, the hunger had disappeared; He forced himself to eat while he discreetly watched the character in front of him, who had not tasted a bite and merely limited to inhaled the aroma of his coffee.

The minutes passed, after a while, Gaara forced himself to eat, and was finished. He paid, although his host refused to charge him, he left the payment at the table, said goodbye and left.

 _"I still have a couple of free hours before the meeting," thought the redhead as he walked slowly, "I suppose I have time to go home."_

"Get out of here and do not come back!" Shouted the cook, and glared at the strange character who had allegedly ruined the visit of the Kazekage.

"Even if you beg me in the future, I would never come back," she said calmly as she left the payment on the table and left.

And so, she walk street after street, until someone got in her way.

"What do you want, Kazeidiot She said, looking straight ahead at the man who blocked her way a couple of yards away.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Gaara moved closer to her, leaving a distance of less than a meter, between them. "I wanted to apologize, I feel that you were treated badly because of my presence in that place."

"Ah... That," replied the stranger indifferently. "Your apologies do not serve me, I give them back," was all she said while dodging the Kazekage and went on her way as if nothing happened.

"Stop," Gaara ordered insistently, "there must be something I can do to make you accept my apology."

The strange character stopped, but only turned her face to watch the redhead.

"You're a very annoying person with all that insistence, I hate that about humans."

She finished speaking and continued on her way.

Gaara was silent for a few seconds, then made up his mind. He ran to reach the strange figure in front of him and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her to follow him.

"What the hell?!" Was the only thing that the unknown person could articulate while in slow motion she could see as the redhead maked a combination of jutsus with his free hand, falling into his technique and disappearing in the sand that began to cover them.

They were transported to the inner garden of a house, she fell to her knees, while she grabbed her neck, she had swallowed sand, and felt she lacked balance.

"Whe... Whe... re am I?" She asked as he pulled off her hood, letting her hair run free. "What have you done? Kaze-"

"I knew it was you," Gaara interrupted, "but... Why? Why did you pretend to be a ragged civilian?"

"So you noticed..." Ann said, noting that she was discovered, ignoring the questions that the redhead asked.

"You can not go unnoticed," Gaara said.

"What do you mean?"

"It was so obvious do to dressing like that." The Kazekage jumped from the elevated place of the garden where they were, offered his hand to assist the Medical Chief to go down, but she took it for granted and hopped elegantly to the surface of the place. "Your hair was too clean and your face reflected you noble lineage; Maybe that civilians didn't notice, but would you would never go unnoticed for a ninja, and much less by someone like me," he added.

Ann stared at him, frowning, she just could not bear to see him close to her.

"And why did you bring me here?" The Kunoichi extended one of her arms, proving that she would not hesitate to attack him if he did or intended some thing.

"Just follow me," Gaara said quietly, omitting her pointing arm. He left the garden, and walked down a corridor, Ann followed him while still pointing her arm toward him.

The redhead stopped in front of a white portal, while Ann stopped a few meters back, with caution.

"Please, come in," Gaara said as he opened the door and waved his hand in the form of welcome. "We're in my home, I do not mean to hurt you, consider yourself my guest."

The Medical Chief looked with suspicion in her eyes, at the Kazekage, he in turn reflected in his eyes a great tranquility, which caused her to lower her pointing arm.

She entered the room first, opening her eyes in surprise, seeing that it was a kitchen, so white and glistening that it blinded her eyes for a few seconds to see such neatness. It was exaggerated, for anyone who had seen it.

"Ito-basan is a bit extreme with cleaning," Gaara pointed out as he stepped in behind her. "You can have a seat, this will take a while," he added, and started to open the refrigerator, taking some frozen food containers from inside.

"Oh?" Was the only thing that Ann managed to utter as she came out of her astonishment, she hesitated for a moment, and sat down at the dining room table, looking suspiciously at her host.

Meanwhile, the redhead took out several containers, placed them in the kitchen counter, took off his white robe, folded it twice, and hung it from the rack in the corner of the dining room; He returned to the kitchen and from one of the drawers took a kitchen apron, put it on, took the containers to the tap, thawed it and prepared to heat it in the microwave; While he waited for the corresponding time, he placed the cutlery on the table, as if for two people.

"Why do this?" Ann broke the silence, got up and went to the microwave, and watched with the look of a curious cat, everything that passed in the small window. "I have a feeling this has poison."

Gaara did not answer. The alarm from the microwave went off, Ann drew back more from the noise of the unknown thing than from Gaara, who was about to open the device. The Kazekage took out the steaming vessels, poured them into the plates he had set in the dining room, and called his guest to accompany him.

"Lunch is served," Gaara said as he sat down, "sit down without worry."

"How do I know it has no poison or something?" Ann snapped as she sat down abruptly and looked at her plate suspiciously. It was a curry of vegetables accompanied with rice, steam was rising and at the same time a pleasant and appetizing smell, totally tempting if she was dying of hunger.

She thought of refusing the food, but her stomach roared with hunger, so much so that Gaara could hear it, yet she could not help but look suspiciously at her plate.

"If you want we can change plates, I have no problem..." Said the redhead, but could not finish the sentence, as he was interrupted when he saw the plates being changed at the speed of a blink.

When he prepared to eat, he looked at her empathically, he had never seen anyone with such an appetite eat. Well, actually there was someone, his blond friend from another village whenever he invited him to eat at that Ramen place. But he had never seen a girl before.

She felt a great thrill as she tasted the first spoonful. How could anything so simple really taste so well? She thought as she took in spoonful of spoonful, her eyes almost watered with the emotion she felt after every bite she chewed, but her plate was empty in a matter of seconds, she still smelled the aroma, where did it come from? She sniffed as if she were a beast, and observed that it came from the dish of his detestable host, who had not yet tasted his portion of food do to staring at her.

"Oh, I only prepared two portions, but if you like you can eat my portion too, I have not touched it yet," Gaara said as he watched his guest staring at him and then at his plate in turn. "Do you want it?" He asked, holding out his plate.

The girl did not hesitate, and took it away in a second, devouring it in an instant as with the first course, the taste of that food made her forget everything that bothered her. At that moment, she did not remember the last time she had tasted homemade food, she felt something warm inside her, as if her mind wanted her to remember something, but she could not, and it was there that she realized that she had grabbed the empty plate and licked it all, in front of the redhead who was watching her with disguised amazement.

She set the plate down, with the other, closed her eyes with shame, let out a sigh and tried to regain her composure. She rose and went to the kitchen sink, it was something she did unconsciously.

 _"When you try a delicious meal in a house, the least you can do in the form of gratitude is to help wash dishes"_

She stopped short, she could not remember where she had heard those words; She reacted when she heard the redhead talking to her.

"It's not necessary for you to do that, please give them to me, I'll take care of it. You're my guest, the guests don't do that." He tried to take the dishes from her hands, but she eluded them, she washed them quickly and arranged them on one side to dry.

He watched her carefully, examined her gaze, it was as if she was not there in her mind, it seemed that her "conscious self" was in a distant place.

She then looked him in the eye, and at the same time her gaze returned to reality.

"I'd like to leave, however I do not know what direction to take," she said as she looked blankly at the Kazekage. "Could you show me an exit? If you don't want me to make a hole in the roof of your home..."

"Will you not stay for dessert?" He replied, reacting from his thoughts, going to the refrigerator and taking out two glasses full of ice cream.

Ann watched the ice cream closely, she detested the Kazekage for reasons unknown to almost everyone in the village, including Gaara himself, but she had a great obsession with sweetness, so much so that for a few seconds she succumbed to doubt.

 _"An ice cream would do well," she thought, "It's an ideal dessert taking into account the weather, although..."_

"What flavor is it?" She asked.

"I have two flavors," Gaara said. "One is hazelnut with almonds and the other, vanilla with raisins.

"No, no thanks," Ann interrupted, turning her gaze to the exit, "I'd rather go."

"All right," Gaara muttered, returning the ice cream to it's container. "Follow me, the way out is this way."

Thus, the Kazekage accompanied the Medical Chief to the exit of his mansion, which was connected by a long corridor to headquarters, they left by a re-addressable door, giving place with a bridge that connected all that place with the rest of the village.

"From here, I can go alone," Ann said as she climbed one of the open windows that had the bridge connected with the barracks.

"I hope you accepted my apologized for what happened in that restaurant," Gaara said as he drew closer to her, she was still climbing up the window.

"Hey, what do you mean?" Ann turned to see him, showing absence in her eyes.

"What do I mean?" Gaara repeated, confused. "Well, because of the bad treatment you received in the restaurant, it was partly my fault, that's why..."

"Oh, right," she remembered, looking back at the redhead seriously. "I suppose if I do not accept your apologies, you will continue to insist, will you not?"

Gaara nodded slightly.

"In that case, I accept your apologies. With the most sincere wish that we will never have to be together again."

"But we have a meeting in a couple of hours, we'll inevitably have to see each other again," Gaara said eloquently as he arched his gaze a little.

"Huhu..." she whispered, while she looked at him with a forced smile.

It was that same false smile that he had seen in that magazine that his siblings had shown him. Seeing her did not give him one ounce of joy, on the contrary, he felt pity, it was tearing to him, to see someone faking a smile.

"I do not waste time on stupid things like that, they're just old men who want to strut their power in front of the younger generations."

Gaara tried to respond, but she, as soon as she finished speaking, threw herself out the window. It looked like she was going to crash to the ground, but, reacted, meters earlier and left jumping over the roofs of the buildings adjacent to the place.

He just watched, then retired back to his home. He increasingly, wanted to understand why the medical leader avoided him and treated him with repudiation, but, he would leave that for later. He had a meeting in a couple of hours, he should concentrate on other things that deserved more attention.

Author's Note:

Now what did the chapter look like? Did some of the new characters steal your attention? Did you hate anyone? XD Tell me, don't hold back, applause, criticisms, doubts? Leave everything in the comments, please, I am also happy reading them :'D


	4. Chapter 3

BEFORE STARTING THE CHAPTER, PLEASE READ THIS SHORT GLOSSARY, IT IS TO IMPROVE YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE STORY.

 **Daimyo / Daimyo / Nagashi-sama** : Is the Feudal Lord of the Wind Country, the maximum authority in the political, economic and military of such country. He is a man of great proportions with a robust body and prominent cheeks, has oriental eyes, fine mustache that goes upwards and a small and fine beard.

 **Kimono:** Dress or suit of two or three pieces, made of silk, used mainly for special occasions, but of daily use for the people of blood or noble class.

 **Yukata:** Typical Japanese clothing made of cotton. It is mainly used for summer parties or warm seasons. It is much lighter than the kimono because it does not have the coat that normally covers it and because it is not silk. It is usually one piece.

 **Kotatsu:** It is a low table made of wood and covered by a futon or a heavy blanket, on which rests the surface of the table. Below is a brazier, heater or stove, which is sometimes part of the structure of the table itself.

THAT IS ALL, NOW YOU CAN CONTINUE WITH THE STORY.

CHAPTER 3

He reached the meeting room, most of the leaders were already present, and waited in silence, the appointed time to start the meeting, seated around the large oval table. The fifteen leaders of the most important and dominant clans of the Village would meet, they had asked for the presence of the Feudal Lord, because they had a conflict that they could not resolve between them.

All the leaders began to mutter when the leader of the Taiyō Clan entered the scene, they even looked at her defiantly, something that didn't go unnoticed to the eyes of Gaara, this meeting gave him a bad feeling. If these characters got emotions got altered they could attack one another, he rethought the idea of not having asked Kankurō to accompany him as his escort. The atmosphere began to become heavy, all the leaders expressed annoyance in their countenance, excluding the leader of the Taiyō Clan; she, aware of the look her fellow attendants had on her, had a bright, calm face, reflecting a broad smile.

Then came the last missing member, he was the most important of all, although Gaara was not afraid, he had great respect for him, because thanks to his support, he was able to take over as Kazekage.

He was followed by his entourage of servants, who brought him on a sort of royal cot, adorned all over with objects belonging to nobility.

"The Feudal Lord is present, arise and bow before his presence!" Cried one of his servants, introducing his master.

Everyone that was present rose from their seats and bowed their heads in the direction of the Feudal Lord.

" That's enough with formalisms," said the Feudal Lord, while, in an amusing way, tried to get up from his royal cot. He grabbed his hip in pain and reincorporated while his servants made enough force to lift him completely and they left him alone. "My God, they'd better have me come for something important, they do not know the hell that is to travel from my home to this place, that suffocating wind in the desert, not even having three servants fanning me all day I would be able to feel comfortable, and not to mention the boredom that my wives and I suffer, I expect a great banquet after we fix this."

He began to walk breathlessly to the oval table, sat down next to Gaara, but noticed with misfortune that he could not fit in the chair.

"Young man, would you be so kind to change seats with me?" He turned to Gaara as he tried to get out of the seat that trapped him. "It's vacation time and I've left my diet a little, be kind to me, you're skinny and young. Help this poor and beautiful noble ball to get out of trouble," he said as he extended his hand to him, as a sign of help.

Gaara nodded and got up quickly, he carefully pilled the Feudal Lord to free him from his seat, he in turn bounced like a ball against the Kazekage, giving the impression that he was about to knock the thin leader to the ground.

All the leaders watched in a distressed manner, except for the leader of the Taiyō Clan, who burst out laughing, while she mockingly pointed her hand at the Daimyo.

"Hahaha what a piece of fat you are Nagashi-san," she burst out laughing, "You were so close to leaving us without a Kazekage again. You were on a diet, huh? How many pigs do you eat for breakfast? Three, four or more?"

The other leaders stared in amazement at the Taiyō for the words she had given to the Feudal Lord. Gaara himself looked at her in astonishment, no one had ever addressed the king before.

He lifted him off the floor and helped him sit in his new seat.

"I apologize for the incident, the previous time you had been able to settle between us, and we had not anticipated that you had spread out," said Gaara, somewhat tense through the scene. The laughter of the Taiyō leader in the background did not help anyone, making everything tenser.

"Don't worry, it's not your fault that I get fat," said the Feudal lord as he adjusted his headdress. "Sit down, young man, sit down," he said. "Thank you for helping me," He said as he tore a gold charm from his tunic and put it in his hand as a form of gratitude.

"Ah ..." murmured the redhead as he sat down and stared at the gift the Daimyo had given him. Had he treated him as a needy villager?

"As for you," continued the Feudal Lord, looking at the Taiyō, with a look of annoyance, since she didn't stop laughing. "You damn pretty witch! What kind of treatment is that to your lord? Ask me for forgives on your knees, Daena-san!"

The woman began to laugh louder, to the extent that she grabbed her stomach and began to pound the table in a jubilant way.

"I'll do that on the day pigs fly, but at this rate the poor pigs are going to die out, from how much you them, hahaha," said the leader, Daena.

The Feudal Lord turned red with anger, so much so that he made Gaara worry.

"Please, apologize to Nagashi-sama, you have spoken very disrespectfully to him, I remind him that he is here to solve your problems, be more grateful..." Spoke the redhead, clearly addressing the leader of the Taiyō Clan.

The woman stopped laughing and frowned at the Kazekage.

"Do not mess with me, brat," she said. "Nagashi-san and I are childhood friends, laughing at him is part of our great friendship, don't put your noses in places unknown to you, pedant brat," she exclaimed, and crossed her arms in annoyance.

Gaara's expression, which until then had remained calm, became very serious, he detested stupid people like her, especially since she had labeled him as a "brat", a term he had previously had to endure so much at the meeting of the kages as well as with the elders of his village.

"It's okay Kazekage, let it be, she's a second cousin of mine, she's family, I can do nothing more than endure her humiliating jokes towards me." Said the Daimyo when he noticed that the redhead was defending him. He sighed with resignation as he put a hand to his chest.

Gaara nodded at the words of the Feudal Lord, erasing the expression from his face, he took the papers he had on the table, of which there was a copy for each of the attendants.

The huge clock in the room was ringing, announcing it was four in the afternoon, the time set for the meeting, had arrived.

"Now that we are all together, I begin the meeting between the clans and the Feudal Lord. I, Sabaku no Gaara, the 5th Kazekage, at the request of all present here, will act as mediator and moderator in this congregation. Gentlemen of the clans, I demand to be diligent and direct to the petitions that you want to make to the Feudal Lord; all of you have been assigned a number, which you can find in the papers that have been placed in front of you, following that order you will make known your case and what you demand to solve it.

Gaara finished speaking, although at first glance he seemed withdrawn, when it came to speaking his voice became of great leadership energy. Those present began to review their assigned documents in silence, after a few seconds, the first of them raised his hand.

"My name is Toshiro Namiki, I am the leader of the Namiki Clan, recognized for his specialty in techniques related to medical ninjutsu and sealing. I come here to claim an extension to the payment of foreign currency that my Clan has owed the Taiyō Clan, not because we do not have the money to pay, but because they ask for payment, nothing more or nothing less, other than my second child to marry one of their own and add him to their clan..."

Gaara relaxed his mind, apparently this was a sort of meeting where political and inheritance issues would be discussed, it seemed to denote that it would be a long and tedious meeting, but the other clan leaders began to stir, forcing him to intervene.

"Silence!" exclaimed the redhead, while raising his voice, causing all present to go silent, "You have been assigned a number so that everyone has the opportunity to be heard, stick to the rules that I have ordered..."

It was then that one of the leaders raised his hand while indicating with the other his number, which indicated that it was his turn to speak.

"Gaara-sama and Daimio-sama, I am Neri Taiga, leader of the Taiga clan, my peers and came here to denounce the hoax that this harpy has done to our clans," he pointed to the leader of the Taiyō clan. "Not only has he asked Namiki-san for this form of payment, but to all those present, it is clear that their intentions are other..."

"It is true!"

"This is all very suspicious!"

"He wants to take advantage of the situation!"

"He has refused to accept other forms of payment!"

The leaders began to speak simultaneously, the Feudal Lord became concerned, he did not like the conflict that was forming before him. He raised his hand to call silence, causing everyone in the room to shut up.

"The accusations they are making are of a fairly serious level, you have already given me a summary of this situation, but I never thought this problem would cover this magnitude," he said, clearing his voice. "Daena-san, do you have anything to say about it, in your favor, for such an accusation? Is it true what you ask in return for paying off their debts? Explain in detail, the Kazekage and I, are not aware of the agreements that you have with the other clans, these matters are usually arranged in private, it is displeasing for me to have to get involved in all this." He finished with a tone of high discomfort, as he pulled some peanuts from his clothes and carried them to his mouth, that was the way he tried to relax.

The leader of the Taiyō Clan sighed with annoyance at the Feudal Lord's words, it seems that she did not want to speak, but then he looked maliciously at his peers and decided.

"That's right, everything they say about me is true, turtle with paws," she said as she held out her hands in acceptance. "As everyone here should know, my clan is the one that has the majority power both politically and economically, we own almost half of the Village, not counting our properties that we have around the country from the wind. Obviously, we are not petty beings who treasure our wealth only for us, my clan never refused to offer financial aid to any clan who asked, moreover, we have been benevolent these last twenty years, giving them a very low payment rate; but apart from being ninjas we are business people, no one helps anyone without receiving anything in return in the world of finance." Her voice filled with pride as she took out some papers from her robe and with the agility of a ninja she threw a copy at the Kazekage and the Feudal Lord, who were at the opposite end of the huge oval table. "What I have gone through are the records of all the loans that my clan made to the clans here, all detailed from their first loan to the latter, including my large discounted contribution that I gave them to finance their support in the last war that we lived recently, that of a couple of years ago..."

Like the Daimyo, Gaara took the papers and began to examine them. His eyes widened in amazement as he noticed the exorbitant numbers in these reports, he had never seen figures with so much zeros, some clans had not yet been able to pay loans dating back years before his birth. A drop of sweat ran through his forehead, with that debt they had, the lender, could even ask the death of a noble, no, of several nobles in exchange for payment. And everything could be approved politically because the laws authorized it. He looked at the Daimyo to see his reaction to the facts, he had a serious look that came to worry him more, would even the noble monarch not be able to pay these debts with the treasure of the country? No, he could, but the economy would destabilize, many would starve, work for both civilians and military would be scarce. How could a clan have accumulated so much wealth to the degree of having the power to challenge the Lord himself?

"As I see the expressions on your faces, you must now have an idea of the current situation we are going through," the woman continued with her demands. "I do not ask for much in return, rather, my CLAN does not ask much in return to pay off their debts, we do not want money, since we swim in it." She held out her hands, causing the other leaders to growl their teeth angrily and with impotence in their face do to the situation. "I only ask you to change a little of your genes, our clan has the rare ninjutsus as weakness, we love to collect them, not to mention that we improve them with our genetics, since from the beginning of humanity we are known as a warrior race, we were born gifted to fight; but we are also peaceful beings in times of peace... If the problem is that they fear losing their number of useful successors, I would not mind giving them back in the future, a member fruit of this unions..."

One of the leaders could not stand the speech that the Taiyō was pronouncing, and pounced on her from his seat, while swearing at her, ripping her robes and executing a magnetic-style technique that made his arm turn into a kind of knife. It was a direct attack, Gaara would not arrive with his shield of sand in time to avoid the fight.

Large drops of blood jumped through the air, scattered all over the oval table and stained some attendants. The scene became grim, on the one hand, Gaara had taken Daimyo's life as a priority, protecting him, within his sphere-of-sand technique.

Once assured the life of the greatest of its leaders, all they centered the vision in the leader who had attacked to Daena. He was in the air, pierced by thick needles emerging from the head of the Taiyō leader, apparently an accelerated hair growth technique, he had not even been able to touch her. The man tried to articulate something but one of the needles crossed his neck, taking away the possibility of making any noise, he began to bleed, the red drops fell quickly along the trails of needles and spread through the face of the Taiyō, who did not show gilt and still sat with a perverse smile on her face. She stuck out her tongue to test the warm red liquid that was sliding around her lips. The victim in the air, stopped struggling, the technique in one of his arms faded, it gave the impression that he was no longer alive. Daena, vanished her technique again, making the inert body crash down on the table.

In an instant, what was a meeting of discussing, had become a mortuary scene.

"Why do you look at me like that?" Inquired the Taiyō as she took a handkerchief from her robes and began to wipe her face covered in blood. Her hair, which was a very pale blond, now had reddish tones scattered all over. He attacked me first, I only acted in my own defense and you are witness to it... What do you not plan to move and help him?" She asked indignantly, seeing that everyone was still staring at her. "He is not dead, but if he continues like this, it will not last long, if he is taken quickly to the hospital where my daughter works, he may survive."

Two of the leaders approached the body, certainly it still had a pulse, they looked at the Kazekage to ask for approval to help him, he consented with his eyes. They carried him between the two and disappeared from the scene.

"Well... Shall we continue with the meeting or accept what I demand?" Said the bloodthirsty kunoichi as she shook the blood-stained papers so that they dried up.

Everyone turned their eyes to the Kazekage, waiting for their decision. He for his part, first I release the Feudal Lord, who on seeing the scene paled to the degree of dizziness.

"Nagashi-sama, please keep your composure," the redhead suggested as he helped him to sit down again, "we cannot leave this meeting unfinished, especially now for what has just happened, if we do not reach an agreement, this could cause a war between clans..."

"But you can control them, right? You are the Kazekage," answered Daimio, implying that he wanted to leave the place quickly, he was invaded by fear. "You make the decision on how to solve this, I will not judge you..."

"Nagashi-sama! Act properly, I ask of you, only you can fix all this conflict," said Gaara firmly, causing the Daimyo to think again with sanity.

"Lord... okay, sit all over again," he said as he let out a large sigh of resignation. "Please do not act with violence again in front of me, those things make me very nervous ..."

The remaining leaders took their seats again. Of the fifteen who were present without counting the Kazekage and the Daimyo, only twelve remained.

"Given the circumstances, I have only to support the affected clans, I will try to increase their jobs to the maximum, so that their finances grow and can pay in a determined period all their debts that have made with the Taiyō Clan ..."

The leaders showed acceptance in their face, before the solution offered by the Daimyo.

"I will not accept money, it is not what I am asking for in return!" Daena interrupted, her voice furious with Daimio. "I will not accept that proposal!"

"You have no choice but to negotiate, Daena-san, I'm the boss here," the Feudal Lord stated firmly, as he pulled a pen out of his robes and scribbled numbers behind the papers Taiyō had given them and handed them to Gaara, I have now given the new rates to the Kazekage, to reorganize the percentages that all the members of their clans win, which will have priority to carry out missions. I will soon return to my home and look for other ways to support their economies and get them back as soon as possible.

"I will not accept that, listen to me, you pig," Taiyō declared on the edge of anger.

"Well, you have to do it, whether you like it or not, how dare you want to negotiate with the lives of people as if they were cattle? You excuse yourself saying that it's to improve the well-being and power of the village, but tell me. Would you be able to do that yourself, sacrificing the lives of your own children?" He asked, more certain in his voice, giving the impression that the decision was irrevocable.

"Of course, I would!" The leader Taiyō shouted indignantly at the Daimyo's words. "I would be able to sacrifice and kill my own firstborn to ensure the life of my clan and my village, they are all idiots... They will repent for this. In future, when they ask for our help, we will not be for anyone ..."

"I feel sorry for your daughter, for having a mother who would not hesitate to sacrifice her or even to kill her for the sake of others," he said sadly. "For my part, I close this meeting and the case itself, they will continue to pay the fees established with your debtors, increased by fifteen percent more, to accelerate the complete cancellation. You may all retire, go home in peace, and please let me know if that leader died or not, I will not be able to sleep out of the intrigue," finished saying the Feudal Lord while fixing the headdress and with a whistle called his servants, they were outside, to be picked up.

Daena clenched her fists tightly, while biting her lower lip, the fury consumed her, not to mention the other leaders who began to see her with mockery, they got rid of her, but she would not hesitate to take revenge on them in the near future. She got up and was the first person to retire, she had lost and could do a thing but disappear for the moment.

While the servants carried their obese master, Gaara tried to order and save all that paper that had not been reached by the blood, all had withdrawn except for the Daimyo, who continued giving work to his subjects as he climbed on his royal cot.

"It was a short but intense meeting, was it not?" Said the fat noble in order to make the redhead talk while he was still there, "I feel a lot of pride and respect for you, knowing that you lead, keep and direct these beasts, even with your young age, you even led me for a few seconds," he laughed. "Why don't you come to dinner with me tonight? We will give a great banquet to forget the bad that happened today..."

Gaara was perplexed by the Feudal Lord's words, though he did not like receiving compliments, he was satisfied to hear the words of his superior.

"Ah, thank you," he said, "but I have work to do, I would like to end all this paperwork today, but I thank you for your offer Nagashi-sama ..."

"Always so reserved, you are a lot like your father in that," said the Daimyo, sitting on his throne, ready to go. "But my invitations are not to be dismissed, if I say we're having dinner together, we'll have a banquet together." His tone grew steady. "Wear clothes like the noble you are and visit me at night, in the place where I always stay when I come here, see you, Gaara-san."

"Oh, I'm sorry ... I did not want ..." He tried to justify himself, but his fat leader had already left, all he could do was to tilt his head as a little farewell.

He finished stacking all the papers, before leaving, he observed the meeting room, it was mostly stained with blood. Although, in the past, scenes like these caused him happiness and enjoyment, now they only caused him sadness and disgust. It seemed strange to him, the act that the leader who attacked the Taiyō had done, now the idiot would be fighting for his life in the hospital, undoubtedly his action was irrational. Fight in a meeting against a person who has you overpowered by her economic and Social power? No matter where you looked at it, there was no clear reason for that.

"Well, I'll leave this to the building's cleaners, I hope it's not a tragedy ..." Murmured the redhead as he set out with the small pile of papers tucked into one of his arms.

He had just entered his office, when he saw someone coming all restless, almost ripping out his door.

"Gaara! Are you okay?" Asked an agitated Kankurō, it seemed that had run, he was still in his casual clothes, which were almost drenched in sweat. He put his hand on the table as he tried to catch his breath.

"Ah ... why are you so agitated?" Asked the redhead as he took a sip of his cup of cold cocoa, and turned his gaze back to the papers before him.

"What do you mean, why I'm agitated?" The puppeteer asked in annoyance. "I was in the hospital visiting someone and suddenly I see two of the leaders that had a conference with you, leading a third almost dead, they were drenched with blood; I instinctively approached one of them and they told me everything they saw at the meeting. I ran to the meeting room, I feared that the others had begun to fight among themselves by engaging you in all that; I arrived to the place and I saw all that bloody scene. I feared the worst ..."

"Oh ... Things got a little complicated, in the middle of the meeting," Gaara replied as he focused his sight on his brother, "that idiot you saw half dead, had the audacity to attack the Taiyō Clan leader, the latter did not hesitate to counterattack , neutralize him in a matter of seconds. The Feudal Lord lost his sanity because of the fear of what he witnessed, but I was able to reassure him and in the end an agreement was reached with the problem in question, although... I have the feeling that something more was needed to resolve that conflict, the one affected adversely with that agreement is someone to whom we will have to deal with secrecy from now on..."

Kankurō listened attentively to his brother's explanation, and after other questions, which he formulated, he sighed in relief.

"Lord, not even on my day off, I can actually be "free" of worrying about my annoying otouto." He smiled as he threw himself on the couch in the office and put a hand to his face. "I can already see Temari scolding me as soon as she arrive from Konoha and finds out all this happened ..."

"Stop talking about me, as if I were a helpless child who needs to always protected." Gaara's voice became annoyed, "I remind you that I have not obtained the position I have by pure chance."

"Oh, now you want to scrub your Kage title? I remind you that you got it from the support of many people, especially Temari and me," Kankurō replied, also with annoyance. "You will always need our strength and support, it has always been this way, even... at that time... " he hesitated to say that last part, as he turned his sad gaze to the side. "You've always been everyone's favorite, in one form or another, including since you changed, Temari has become closer to you, than she was with me. It's not that I'm jealous or anything like that, but I really wish you were more grateful to me and Temari, you're always there, being all absent, our fool of a sister says it's because you stayed like that because of your past, but, I remember you your past and mine are not very different, I also suffered the death of mama…" His voice sounded choked, he did not know why he was saying all this now, but he felt that he had to say it, he had been silent for a long time. "Temari and I also suffer the rejection of others for being siblings of the "phenomenon" at that time. I do not hold resentment for it, you were not to blame, not even now, that I am more aware of the world we live in, I'm not sure that it was even the fault of Dad or someone in particular. I heard straight from the voice of Naruto that you offered him to "drink together" when he becomes Kage. Tell me, when will you invite your blood siblings to "drink with you"?! Or are we, Temari and I, not good enough to have that honor and moment with you? Tell me, when the hell would you treat us like your siblings?!" Without realizing his own actions, the chestnut had risen from the couch and had gone to Gaara, who stared at him, shocked and puzzled, listening to him in silence; he stood in front of the before mentioned who was still seated, grabbed him by the collar of his Kazekage robe and pulled him toward himself for him to see the annoyance and pain that reflected on his face. "Answer, damn it!" He shouted when he did not respond, turning his face sadly to one side. Then he released him with force and pushed him back to his seat. The two were not able to see each other's face again, each staring at the ground, silence reigning the place for a few seconds.

"I never thought you had all this stuff inside you…" the redhead interrupted the silence, as he got up from his seat and walked to the middle of the room, turning his back on his brother. "It was not my intention to "scrub my title" as you say, I just wanted to say that you and Temari always protect me and that bothers me a little... I know that sometimes I focus only on myself, and I do not notice what others around me feel, or when I do, I think of everyone in general. I was not aware that some of these acts of mine hurt your feelings or those of Temari... I think I've been with you two, very ..."

"Selfish, no doubt, don't doubt it," interrupted Kankurō, while he turned him, putting his hand on the redhead's shoulders, to face him. "You should not be afraid to live with us anymore, be more expressive and grateful, we will never turn our back on you again…"

"I was going to say "inconsiderate", but ... I think your "selfish" defines me better at the moment," Gaara replied, looking sadly at his older brother, who was still holding him by the shoulders. "I owe you both a lot, so…" he looked at his brother trying to erase his bitter face and put a faint, sincere smile on his lips. "Thank you for everything, Kankurō, and I'm sorry if I made you feel rejected or hurt, your personality tends to irritate me easily, but I promise that I will try to spend more quality moments with Temari and with you. Thanks again... brother..."

The puppeteer looked at him in amazement, his face of sadness instantly disappeared, and was replaced by one of joy, tears came out like waterfalls from his eyes, he attracted Gaara towards him and embraced him in that way only brothers do. That sibling love that only the two of them could have, well, three, but Temari was not there, she missed it.

"Hua ... hua ... idiot, your words made my elder brother's soul happy," he interjected between the cries and the snot coming out of the chestnut.

"Hum… Calm down, Kankurō, you're messing up my clothes," Gaara mumbled weakly as he braved his brother's cries. It was then that he realized that he was still, did not reciprocating the hug, so he quickly raised his hands and hugged him, placing his hands near the mid waist of the chestnut.

"Oi, oi you are doing it wrong, heavens, you are very bad at this, arms in the back, in the backkkkk," add Kankurō, some indignation.

"Ah... oh ... I'm sorry, I did not know, we never did this, so I don't know how to mechanically act," replied the redhead, while correcting his mistake and hugging him as he should.

"All right, don't worry, remember that when you embrace Temari, it has to be the same way," indicate the chestnut, after a few seconds of embracing and then they let go. "That kind of hug can only be given to Temari and I , no one else is worthy of them, not even Naruto, he is your best friend, not your brother, siblings you only have two, Temari and I, you understand, right?"

"Ha, I got it, hugs back with just the two of you, no one else," said Gaara, repeating naively, "but," his voice became doubtful. "What does the embrace around the waist mean? Why is it not applicable in us siblings?" he asked, reflecting innocence in his eyes.

"Well, that way is only to embrace women, you're not a woman, I'm sure of that, I've seen you naked," Kankurō replied, as he started to laugh, he could not control himself.

"I see, that means that Temari can only hold me like this," Gaara announced, omitting what his brother had said in jest about seeing him undressed, he had also seen him naked and there was no difference between them in that aspect, the chestnut was a little taller and a little sturdier in the arms, but that was because of age, they were like two drops of water in everything else, and when it referred to everything, it meant exactly "everything."

"No, Temari, I'm sure she'll hold you like I do, I mean the other women," Kankurō said as he winked at him.

"Ah ..." was the only thing Gaara uttered, as he moved away from his brother and settled into the seat of his office. Even though it had been a few moments, it had been emotional for both of them, he had work to do, and he was behind, he did not want to be rude to his brother, but the talk was beginning to not interest him...

The chestnut went to his table and began to order some papers that were scattered.

"Mmm ... it's incredible that these papers give a lot of work, it seems the easiest thing in the world, but it is not, and they always come. More and more..." he read a bit of each paper and classified according to their rank of importance.

Gaara observed what his brother was doing, he did not doubt the judgment with which he the classified those documents, in that aspect he was very skilled. In fact, of the three he was who read the fastest and made exact conclusions for him.

But he worried that he would have to use his time, as he had said, he would try to be a better brother to them.

"Is it okay to waste what little is left of your day off, helping me? You should go, but I'll finish before nightfall." The redhead, looked at him a bit hesitantly.

Kankurō, pretended not to hear anything, and continued to accommodate those papers. After a minute he finished with all the papers he had organized.

"Don't worry, what I had to do today in my private life has been done, I did not get the spare parts to continue building my puppets, so if I go home now, I will be slothful watching something boring on TV. I'd better help you, if you finish earlier, you'll come home with me faster. Ito-basama is not here today, so I have to cook, I feel lonely when there is nobody at home and I have nothing to do..." said the chestnut while taking half of the papers, Gaara, had in his hand, and began to read them.

"I see... Thanks for the help..." the Kazekage stammered in surprise. Today, his brother Kankurō was unusually more expressive. He felt something strange in his mind, for some reason, he wanted to laugh at what he had heard from him, but he preferred to laugh inwardly, he didn't want to piss him off again.

After a long time, they finished reading and ordering all the pending papers. The clock marked 18:30, through the window you could already see the sun almost hidden.

"I'm not sure all of that should be thrown away," the redhead inquired, watching his brother throw a large number of papers in the trash can on the side of his desk. "Look at this," he took a couple of papers from the bottom of the pile, "this is an invitation to a lunch, it says "all you can eat in roast" Why did you discard this?"

"Don't be naive, look who sent it, that name sounds like a naive genin that is constantly inviting you to a date, putting the excuse of food for you to fall for it, is a trap. Or are you interested in arranging a date?" asked the chestnut while he took the sheet from his younger brother and points at the signature of the person at the base of that sheet.

"No, not in the least," Gaara replied, heading for the exit. "Let's go home ..."

As soon as he opened the door, a woman came in balancing a tower of papers, taking the path to place them on the table, she almost collided with Kankurō, fortunately he was able to dodge her.

"I'm sorry, Gaara-sama, we had a setback with the papers, but here they are, please, I beg your pardon me ..." She nodded several times, apologetically, towards Gaara. It was Shun, the medical chief's assistant.

"I forgot about you," Gaara said, scanning the first page of the tower of papers. "No problem, I checked and it looks like everything is properly sealed this time. You can leave, tell your superior that I hope to continue receiving the report in this way, good work." He put the papers in their place and waved at Shun so she could leave.

The woman bowed with her head and withdrew to the same place from which she had appeared.

"Do we have to go over that whole report?" asked Kankurō with fear, seeing that paper tower.

"No, no, they are only administrative papers of the hospital, they do not need my approval, because they are already sealed and approved, if they come to me it is for a purely bureaucratic review."

Kankurō sighed with relief.

Already at home, each one went to their respective room, to take a shower, it had been a long day for both of them. After that, they ran into the kitchen, Kankurō was about to start cooking, when he began to talk to his brother about what he would like to have for dinner.

"Oh, now that I remember you, I will not be able to have dinner with you today, Daimio is forcing me to go to a banquet. He is making it in the place where he stays when he visits the village. I am sorry…"

The chestnut who was about to start cutting the vegetables he had prepared for dinner, stopped at the words of his red-haired brother.

"I see, I suppose it's irredeemable, today I had dinner alone, I think it's fate, which can't be undone ..." Kankurō replied as he took off the apron he had just put on. "It does not make sense to cook for one, I'll go out and eat something ..."

Gaara watched his brother's sadness and thought for a few seconds of a solution, he began to speak.

"Why don't you accompany me to that banquet?" I doubt very much that the Feudal Lord will bother if I bring company, he tends to be very "effusive" when surrounded by food.

"Are you serious? I don't want to embarrass you," said Kankurō, avoiding getting excited.

"Well, if you don't want ..." Gaara hesitated, thinking that maybe it was a bad idea.

"No, no, I'll go, I want to go!" Said the chestnut with emotion. "How do we have to dress? Will they talk about something political? Because if not, we can go yukatas-"

"Ah, he said" like nobles "so I guess the Yukatas will be fine." Gaara started to walk toward his room. "Do you know where Temari saves our yukatas? The last time, I saw them she had them ironed, but, I do not have mine in my closet."

"Kankurō scratched his head, if there was something they did not want was to enter the room of his absent sister, not because they were afraid of the place, who they were afraid of was her; Kankurō had already taken a couple of blows in the past for having entered.

With fear and secrecy, the two brothers ventured into the "forbidden room" of their sister; it was a spacious place containing two beds, one where Temari usually slept and the other they found resting her clothes and dolls; yes, she collected those kinds of things, but her tastes were somewhat dismal, all her dolls were traditional, they had some rather strange looks.

"I feel as if those things fallow me with their dead eyes..." Kankurō whispered to Gaara, while the latter opened a box that was placed on the top of Temari's wardrobe, and fortunately found the Yukatas they were looking for.

"Here they are," said Gaara, taking his and his brother's; two yukatas, one colored wine and the other black - well, that's all we need, let's go Kankurō."

They left the place, each one took the yukata that corresponded to them and went to dress in their rooms.

"I remember that, but ..." Gaara murmured to himself as he tied the waist that bound the two parts of the suit, but they were let loose, falling to the ground, remaining only dressed on the top of the suit. "I'm doing something I am doing wrong ..."

Someone knocked on the door, it was Kankurō, who apparently had the same problem, as he came grabbing the bottom of his suit.

"Gaara, these are not yukatas, they are Kimonos," he said in a voice of complaint, as he entered his room comically

"Ah, they seemed to me quite difficult to put on," the Kazekage replied, still trying to tie the obi that bound the lower part of the suit.

And so, between banging and bouncing around, they were able to accommodate the kimonos, helping one another, certainly this was something that could not be done alone.

"At times like these, we are very dependent on Temari, she would have fixed us in an instant," said Kankurō, they both left their home, they were on their way to meet the Feudal Lord.

They arrived at the place, the servants received them, leading them to where their master was.

The Daimyo received them with the "effusiveness" Gaara had predicted, rejoicing that he had brought one more guest. Certainly, Kankurō became one of the most gracious guests at the banquet, he was very sociable, and in comparison with him, he had a pleasant chat with the noble Nagashi-sama and his wives. They ate and drank a little, then after that, the Daimyo invited them to accompany him to another place, since he wanted to speak to them in private.

It was then, when they entered the place, that he realized the real reason for the invitation to their banquet.

There were five of the fifteen leaders he had met that afternoon, they all looked a little more relaxed than usual.

"As you may have noticed, this meeting had hidden a real intention," said the Daimyo as he settled down with them in the large Kotatsu in that place.

Then one of his servants entered and served all the present. Then retired from the place.

As they sipped the gratifying tea, the leaders and Feudal Lord talked about how badly they had been in the evening congregation.

"Excuse me for interrupting you," Gaara said somewhat annoyedly for the hour, receiving an elbow from his brother Kankurō, but he continuing his demand. "But I must continue my daily duties tomorrow, and it is time for me to retire, just like Kankurō." He nudged him back. "If you have something to say to me, I'd rather have you go straight to the point."

The audience looked serious at the Kazekage, his words had left them mute.

"We have been blessed by the great Lord Buddha in giving us such responsible and earnest Kazekage," said one of the leaders, breaking the silence and being reciprocated by his words with the eyes of the other leaders. "Daimio-sama, please, I believe that it is up to you to speak for us with the Kazekage."

The stout nobleman, slammed his empty cup of tea and centered his most serious look on the Kazekage and began to speak.

"Gaara-san, first of all, I should congratulate you on bringing your brother to the meeting. I had not thought about it, but I think you'd better have a partner in the mission I'm going to assign you," he hissed, to clear her voice. "I do not know if, Kankurō-san is aware of what happened in our past congregation, but this mission is from that premise."

"He is aware of the situation, not the details, but don't worry, I'll keep him informed of what happened," the redhead replied, giving his brother a complicit glance and nodding.

"Well, as you say," Daimyo went on. "As we all know, Daena-san was quite enraged at my decision to support the other leaders. It would be very careless of us not to take precautions in the matter, because it is more than certain that she will retaliate as soon as we give her the opportunity. So I have decided that we will counterattack her first, although her clan has served us with devotion and has been faithful from the beginning of the times of the village system. We have allowed their political, economic and military power grow in an overflowing way, although we have never had conflicts with their previous leaders, I fear that Daena-san will come to reveal itself against the whole village and try to take everything by force from the Wind Country. While we have the support of allied nations, I would prefer to resort to them as a last resort. Let's keep this conflict and try to solve it as privately as possible, I do not want to sow fear in the villagers..."

"nd what is the mission itself?" The Kazekage asked with concern. "Do you want me to "take over" the Taiyō Clan Leader? Because if that is what you have decided, I will abide by and obey without any objection... " he said in a more serious voice.

Kankurō looked at his brother in distress, he knew in the end that Gaara would have preferred to settle this conflict in a more peaceful way, but perhaps they would not have time for that; he wondered how this would affect his present self, Gaara was no longer a bloodthirsty being, but he knew that he would put the interests and well-being of his village above his feelings and his own personal well-being.

"Oh, would you be willing to die, if it were the mission?" Said the Daimyo, looking at him intriguingly, as did the other leaders.

"I am the Kazekage of the Hidden Village in the Sand, I certainly can not help feeling sorry for that soul that has decided to be blinded by the fury of my sand, but, if that is necessary to protect the village and the inhabitants residing in it, I will not hesitate to do it, that is my ninja way," Gaara said firmly to the Daimyo's question.

"Those are the best words I've heard today," the Daimyo announced, reflecting a face of acceptance. "But this mission that you will take care of will not be murder," he said. "We have decided to fight back from within her own clan, her next successor to leadership, she must support our side. And that's where Gaara-san and your brother come in. Your mission will be to win the trust of the future leader, you have to convince her to join our side. If necessary, seduce her, use any method that guarantees that we will have her full support, and when that happens ... I will use my political power to dethrone Danae-san from her position and put her daughter in her place. I trust on your gift of negotiation and words to reach the hearts of others, Gaara-san, not forgetting Kankurō-san and his talent to socialize and gaining confidence quickly. I assumed that something like that would happen before I came here, so I took the liberty of using the Anbu I have under my order, to gather as much information as possible about your target, and to help you a little," he took a couple of papers from his clothes and gave them to him. "Despite your goal being a woman, I recommend taking precaution, of the ten men I sent to gather information, only two came back alive…"

The sand brothers took the papers and began to read about who their target was. Gaara paled at the photo in the report. He turned to see Kankurō and he had a similar expression.

"As I thought, you seem to know who you will have to deal with," the Daimyo said, with a feigned smile, trying to hide his concern. "I have classified this a class A mission, because of its complexity, I want you to start tomorrow to focus on it completely, try to move as fast as you can, and order to others to delegate, all the responsibilities and pending jobs that you carry. This very dawn I am leaving again to my mansion on the north, I have many things pending there. As soon as you have details of the mission, do not hesitate to inform me. As the mission evolves, I will make my decisions. You may leave, and may Buddha lead and enlighten you."

Kankurō and Gaara said goodbye and retired quickly, not a word was shared on the way home. Being in the security and privacy of their house, Kankurō undressed as soon as he arrived, in the room, giving a great sigh of weariness. He leaned back on the couch while in one hand he grabbed the paper he'd been given.

"Do you think we can carry out this mission to perfection, Gaara?" asked the chestnut, while his eyes emanated a look of sadness. "Poor girl, you have no idea that you will be used ..."

Gaara did not answer; he was lost in himself, staring into a void; he had leaned against the wall of the entrance and had let himself drop, his face showed he was concerned. On one side of him was a copy of the report he had been given.

"Hey, you have a bad face, did you get indigestion?" The brown haired man asked as he approached him curiously.

Gaara came out of his trance and stood up, watching his brother with concern.

"The lady who is our target ... is ... is ... Ann ... Ann-sama ..." stammered, the redhead, as his face turned a shade of blue. Apparently remembering the past.

"Ha ... That's right, but why do you worry so much? That's not like you, Gaara. "

Gaara sighed as he rarely did, he realized that if he was to work with Kankurō, he would have to keep him abreast all that he had lived and seen, completely everything.

"Kankurō, you'd better sit down, the right thing to do now, is to inform you of everything I know, so that tomorrow we begin to plan the way we will operate. It's a lot to tell, so sit down at once," said the redhead as he sat on the couch, trying to contain all those sensations that appeared, as soon he started to remember.

And that night, Kankurō at the words of Gaara, went on to express all the knowable faces that anyone could experience. It was a night talk they would never forget.

 **NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:**

Well, this chapter a little shorter than the previous one, I have seen it better this way. I think it is better that you digest the necessary information before going to the strong plate. lol forget that last part, it's just thing of mine xD

You already know, critics, tomato throwing, opinions... Leave everything in the comments. ^^


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

A new day had begun, Ann was still asleep on the back of Iderum, when she heard the insistent sound of someone knocking at the door.

"Whoever you are, be gone," she answered in a still sleepy voice, "I am not available before nine o'clock..."

The person who was knocking on the door, stopped. They opened it, a feminine silhouette passed. She approached the Medical Chief, she was on her side, she raised her face to see who had interrupted her dream.

"Oh, it was you, Shun," Ann yawned, as she uncovered and lifted herself from her living bed. "Why did you come to bother me so early? Did something happen?"

Shun remained silent, opened her mouth and extended out her tongue as far as possible, for his superior to see.

Ann paled at the scene, she clenched her strong hands in the form of fists.

"I'll go as soon as possible..."

The mature nurse nodded and stepped back. Once outside, she walked down then ha stopped, leaning on one side of it, tears came from her eyes, she knelt on the floor while she covered her face with her hands, a face that reflected impotence and sadness in it.

"Good morning, pervert, little brother," Kankurō said cheerfully as he watched Gaara join the table for breakfast. "What perverted dreams did you have last night?"

The Kazekage sat in silence, looked at his brown-eyed brother for his words, although he knew that he was talking to him in jest, it did not seem funny at all.

"Good morning," he said dryly. Ito-basama in a few seconds arrived with a plate of food and a cup for him.

The old woman greeted him the way she is used to, and he responded as he usually did.

"Well, could you think of a plan of your own?" Kankurō asked as he took a sip of his coffee and swallowed half a muffin.

"Ha... I thought about it all night, after much meditation, I found my strategy, and I could finally fall asleep," replied the redhead, taking a small sip from his cup of cocoa. That's right, he could not drink coffee even if he wanted to, all those years of cumulative insomnia, had made him susceptible to stimulants, so much so that he had forbidden them for himself, everything so that his biological clock and sleep returned to normal.

"I've thought about it too, and I think my plan would help us complete the mission faster, successfully."

"I'm listening," Gaara said, seeing the security with which his brother was talking.

"I intend to seduce our target, it will not be easy, but I already have some affinity with her, that certainly gives us an advantage."

Gaara became stiff after hearing "the plan" that his brother had, he didn't think he was serious, until he processed the part of having "a certain affinity."

"What do you mean affinity?" He took a small bite of the bagel in his hand. "Yesterday you didn't tell me anything about it, while I told you everything..."

The chestnut laughed and put a hand on the back of his neck.

"Yeah, sorry. It's just that what you told me was surprising and I forgot to mention what I know." He looked at him with judicious eyes and a pout on his lips. "And well, who would've thought that a dry man like you, was going to have the experience that every man with fetishes wants... Ha... Life is unfair..."

Gaara frowned completely, at his brother's words. They annoyed him exceedingly, how guilty was he, of being someone of "dry" nature. He felt very guilty and even bad, because of what had happened to the Chief Medical Officer, he would never label that experience as "desirable" or "satisfactory," because he was certainly not a pervert, like his brother.

"Go straight to the point," said the redhead, "and if you make another joke to me about what I told you, I'm going to hit you and I will not control myself.

"Now... How sensitive you are, you can't joke with yourself, ah... I miss Temari, she can stand me," said the puppeteer as he swallowed another loaf of bread. "Well, going to the point," his face became more serious, "I'm going to visit her at the hospital, sometimes I have the opportunity to talk to her for a few minutes, and compared to you, she talks to me in a calm and pleasant way, she has never threatened me saying she was going to hit me."

"I see, and what do you talk about?" The redhead asked.

"Hey, I can not tell you that. It's a secret, the talk between a boy and a girl when it comes to flirting." Kankurō put a finger to his mouth signaling his silence. "I can only tell you that they are topics related to life, points of view and trivia, nothing concerning our work and which you believe to be useless information."

The Kazekage narrowed his eyes as he looked at his brother. He was not very confident about the plan he was offering. However, he had had another kind of interaction with the target, very different from his. He decided to give Kankurō's plan a try.

"Can you seduce her and make her trust us in less than a month, if I help you?" Gaara asked as he followed, just as the chestnut swallowed a muffin with just one bite.

"Well, I can't assure you that she will fall madly in love with me, but I could gain her trust to the extent that she supports us," Kankurō assured him, as he swallowed another muffin and sipped the last sip from his cup.

"Well, that's enough of what we need," said the redhead as he reached for the tray of muffins, but it was empty, Kankurō had swallowed the last and now only the apple and oatmeal cookies were available, they did not taste bad, but they were not his favorites. He took one and began to bite with resignation. "We will go first with your plan, in case it fails, we will continue with the plan that I chose."

"I think it's for the best," he told him, "but you haven't told me your plan, I'd like to hear it."

"My plan is to find a weakness of hers and use that in our favor, to bring her to our side. I think it would be best to tell our intentions directly. I have the strong feeling that Ann-sama is a person who, like me , hates going around in an affair and prefers to go straight to the point," Gaara said as he took the last sip of his cup of cocoa.

Kankurō arched his eyebrows rather disgruntled, the Ann-sama he knew, no doubt was very different to what his younger brother indicated she was. The plan he had chosen was very risky, if she chose not to support them and didn't have a weak point, it would make the mission a failure and would reveal the intentions of the Feudal Lord against the Taiyō clan. That would make the fragile alliance that for the moment contained the clans far worse.

"I'm aware of the risk involved in my plan," the redhead added, seeing the worried expression his brother was showing, "that's why I decided to use it as our second card up my sleeve. We will only implement it in case your plan fails."

"I understand," Kankurō said with a sigh of relief. "Well, you're the leader in this mission, tell me how to proceed."

"Taking into account the different affinities that we have with our subject, it will be better to act separately, if I am close to you when you begin to approach her, it could make you dull, she has left me more than clear that she hates me. If she discover that you are my brother, supposing she does not know it already, it would seriously affect your affinity with her, to the extent of giving your plan failure, and we would have to resort to mine. And it is the last thing I wish for the moment. For my part, I will take advantage of the moment, looking for extra information about her and her clan in the clan records we keep in the intelligence and statistics center. If you have something important to inform me, you will find me there," said the redhead, in a very serious and calculating tone.

"Oh, as you say Gaara, I will not forget it," the brown man said, crossing his arms just as his brother used to do and nodding with a smile on his face.

They both gave thanks for breakfast and set about putting their plan in motion.

The chestnut was running agitated, he had been looking to meet his target all morning and part of the afternoon, but was not successful. He could not even contact one of her pupils at the medical center, it is as if they had been swallowed by Earth. It was close to four in the afternoon when he finally was able to find one of them. It was Shun, Ann-sama's assistant, who looked a little emaciated, she seemed to have just awakened from a bad dream.

"Good afternoon, Shun-san, correct?" Said the chestnut, approaching her, but she turned pale at the sight of him.

"Oh Kankurō-sama, good afternoon, excuse me, I did not recognize you, is that I always see you in casual clothes in the hospital," the woman said as she let out a small laugh, trying to hide the nerviness that invaded her.

"I can certainly fool people when I have my face painted, but inside I'm still the same," the chestnut man said as he smiled, at least he had run into the more accessible disciple of the Medical Chief, the rest of Shuns co-workers were acted indifferent and rude.

"Yes, I've noticed. Have you come to visit an acquaintance who is in the hospital? Have you been taken care of? Sorry, today we started the day a little messy in the public service-"

"Uh, no, I came to see Ann-sama, your superior, but I could not meet her, no one gives me clear answers, all the nurses and doctors who I asked, did not know how answer me. Could you help me?" Kankurō interrupted Shun.

"She is not in the hospital today," the nurse said dryly. "Her clan has a closed-door celebration today, for the leap year, every member, especially the nobles, meet and recreate once more the traditional festivities, in honor of the sun god, well, that's obvious, assuming they are the Taiyō Clan."

"Oh, I did not know. Do you know what time she gets back to work at the hospital?" Asked the brunette as he tried to show a cheerful countenance.

"I'm sorry, but I would not know how to respond, I'm only her assistant, I do not control her private life, but the celebration ends at midnight today, Ann-sama usually stays a couple of days longer to live with her beloved family. Excuse me, but I have work to do, with your permission," Shun said with an indifferent tone.

Kankurō watched in silence as the nurse left, she had never treated him like this, it is as if she had been bothered by him asking about the whereabouts of her superior. Seeing that he had nothing more to do there, it would be best to go and inform Gaara of the situation, hopefully he had had a more fruitful day than his. But first he would go home to eat, he had skipped lunch just to wait for someone who would never arrive that day. His stomach sounded as if it had a life of its own.

He was reading scrolls, he still could not find the information he was looking for, it was a very large clan, and without knowing where to start, nor the way in which these files were classified, he had no choice but to ask the intelligence members for help. They worked there, some were collectors, other translators, preservers, guardians and air conditioners. Although the place was very quiet, it was one of the most guarded places of the village, in that place were the biggest secrets, data, classified information, banned jutsus and it was even rumored that there were spirits sealed inside some scrolls, these being the guardians of the village. Although of course, this was more than a myth, but not even the Kazekage himself knew what this place contained. It was like the black box of the village, all the clans, entrusted to this place its greatest secrets and political/historical information, to avoid the robbery of them, that and also because it was something that had the first Kazekage had decreed up on the founding the village.

"Kazekage-sama, here you have all the information available for the moment, for the Taiyō Clan, I'm afraid that's all I can give you, some files are written in an old language and are still in the process of being translated," a man told him and indicated to follow him; apparently, he was in charge of the section where these files were. Like everyone else, he wore a full blue suit, and a turban that covered his whole face, his eyes barely visible.

Gaara followed in silence, great was his surprise when he saw that only that Clan occupies three complete corridors, their scrolls and folios had larger proportions than normal and the paper was much thinner, so as to occupy more information in the minor space.

"I doubt I'll finish investigating today and find out everything I need to know," the redhead muttered regretfully, looking seriously at all the scrolls in front of him. "I need someone who knows as much as possible the order in which these files are accommodated in, to save some time," he point out to the subordinate who had accompanied him.

"I am the top manager of this section, although I do not know what these scrolls keep, I can tell you where's the located of every information, biographies, genealogical trees, statistics, jutsus, wills and other options," finish saying the subordinate.

"You're just what I need." The redhead sat down at a small desk next to the first aisle. "I need you to bring me all the personal information about Ann-sama, and the people close to her, blood or not. Do not take anyone for granted, anyone who is related even for reference only, add it," said the Kazekage.

The shinobi at his command, in a matter of seconds drowned him in scrolls, there was about twenty or thirty, not counting the couple of pages where there were photographs of updates and statistics.

He took the first parchment, quite heavily, none of this was unlike his work as Kazekage. To his misfortune, he had to read first of the witch and current leader of the clan, its report denoted that she was a being that was born with great talents and natural gifts, only daughter of the previous leaders, the clan did not have preference with the men when the time to establish a leader came, their leaders were always the best according to a study of their skills and logistical and military determination. Of course, the position to leader was vital, if you were not born within the first branch of the leader's family, you were not taken into account as a candidate for succession, only the first two children of the main family could compete for the position, if there was a third, he or she would become part of the secondary family, he or she was noble, but not important.

Daena-san, whose full name was Daemonakuma Taiyō was Ann's mother, and Drago ...

 _"So she has a brother..." The redhead meditated inside his head, as he read the parchment carefully._

He finished reading the first scroll, it had been half a day, no doubt it was too much information to process, it was nothing compared to the incomplete list that the Feudal Lord had given him, that and he lacked knowledge as to it being useful for Kankurō.

"Kankurō... I wonder how he's doing," he murmured, sipping the cocoa that the subordinate had brought him so he would not become dehydrated.

Ann-sama, was short for Anngelius Taiyō, she was Daena's first-born, Drago's elder sister, her father was...

Gaara could not continue his reading, the letters were blurred in that part, he called his assistant, to give him information about it. The subordinate saw with horror as the letters in that part were damaged, it seems that it had been intentional, he became absent for a few seconds only to return with a parchment dedicated to the unknown. But when they opened it they discovered that it was completely scratched, no doubt it had been on purpose.

"I want you to look for all the information about that person, even if it is necessary that they translate it back from their original texts," he ordered his assistant. He nodded and disappeared from view.

Gaara decided to continue with his reading.

"...Anngelius is part of the "gifted" project that was started by the 4th Kazekage Rasa, she was one of the three children who were chosen for the project, along with Gaara, son of the 4th, and Priya, firstborn of the Takaikaze Clan Leader. Unfortunately the project was disbanded, after Priya, one of the newborns, killed with his power a large part of his clan, dying later. The way in which each of the clans were promoted to their chosen ones, came to be considered dangerous and it was decided to stop the project, although it is suspected that the 4th continues trying to strengthen the power of his son, to turn it into the definitive weapon of the Village. I, the official author of the biography of the Taiyō royal family, am afraid that someday the two remaining children who survived will have to battle, they could destroy the village, I pray every night to our deity, that if that were to happen, to please give the victory to our dear and future leader, but that it doesn't get to kill to the poor boy container of Shukaku. I am afraid, I am very afraid, I know that I am forbidden to speak or write about this, but this is something that should not be hidden, I do not know what hands my writings will end up in, but I ask you please, whoever you are, help my dear Ann-sama, please. His mother, our current leader, behaves in a demented way, she is someone of unstable character and may in the near future take the life of her own daughter, please help. And if you can, help the boy Shukaku. Do not try to contact me, because more than sure, tomorrow I will be dead, I heard the "things" while hidden saying that "I know a lot, and the best thing is to silence me". I beg you, save our dear Ann-sama, her father is no longer here to protect her..."

Gaara stretched the scroll to try to read more, but it was the end of the writing. He had read a message that must have been waiting for about ten years for someone to find it. He could feel the despair that the anonymous writer had left in her words. He felt very sorry he could not save her. Ann's "father" was again mentioned, referring that he was absent. Dead? Most likely, though in Daena's biography, it was never indicated that she was married or widowed, she was simply credited with two children, something very rare, given the fact that she was a noblewoman, and the nobles never live with concubines and if that were to happen it would be something worthy of repudiation on the part of the nobleman's family.

The redhead had a sea of doubts in his head, questions that for the moment would have no answers. On the "project" he was aware that his father had once seen him as such, but he never thought he had gotten more children, one of whom did not survive, and brought his clan misfortune. But Ann-sama, what kind of occult power is it that runs through her veins? Her clan was renowned for their stamina, agility, skill, and talent for quick learning, you could say they were a factory of perfect warriors, but they did not possess a Kekkei Genkai, or at least that was what they knew. Unless…

"Oh, here you are, how big this place is, I almost lost it," the voice of his chestnut brother took him from his thoughts. "Oh... So many scrolls, and they are huge. Are you going to read all that?

"Oh... I have no choice, besides, I'm learning of many things," Gaara replied, taking another sip of his cup, "and... Why are you here? Were you able to start your "seduction" plan with Ann-sama?" He asked directly.

"No, she was not present at the hospital today, they have a private ceremony for her clan, and she may not return in a couple of days to her job, ah... It was an unfortunate day for me," said disappointed the chestnut while sitting on the floor, next to his brother.

"I see, then, I suppose you can help me check some of these documents, instead of lying on the floor, wasting time, regretting your uselessness," the redhead said, throwing a giant parchment on to of him.

"What a way to ask for more help," Kankurō said with a skeptical look on his face, while barely catching that heavy parchment in the air, "this is going to be boring, I'll need coffee to concentrate..."

"There is none, just cocoa." He threw the thermos that contained the cocoa, at his head.

"Hey! Can you stop throwing things and hand them to me like normal person?" Shouted the chestnut while rubbing his head from the blow.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was doing it like Temari and you act," said the redhead as he handed him a glass.

"But that is between her and me, you are the youngest, if you do this to Temari you will take a good blow from her part, be thankful that I am kinder," he took the glass in discontent.

And so they read for all that remained of the evening.

They repeated that routine for the next three days, it was on the 5th day, that they resumed Kankurō's plan, after analyzing all the information that they had collected, and discovering that the schedule that had been given to them by the Daimyo did not serve for anything in fact, since their target, did not fallow the routine in order. Except for the lunch she had in the hospital cafeteria and a coffee break that she took a few blocks away during tea time in the afternoon.

"Do you think she'll like this home food?" Kankurō asked doubtfully, as he held the bento he had been given and prepared by Ito-basama.

"Don't doubt it, I wouldn't have suggested it, if I didn't know how positive this could be," Gaara added. He was wearing the sexy jutsu he'd learned from his blond friend from Konoha to go unnoticed in the hospital and be able to help his brother when he needed it. "Here she comes, your time has come! I'll be watching you closely," he said as he pushed Kankurō toward the Medical Director, and he went to stand at the back of the table with one of Temari's magazines to go unnoticed.

He approached her and with his best smile began to speak to her.

"Oh, Ann-sama, I finally found you, nice to see you again."

"Chestnut-san... It's you. What are you doing here?" Asked the girl as she looked at him. "What brings you here?" She finished saying as she watched the bento that Kankurō had in his hand.

"I had a hunch that you'd like home-cooked food, you must be fed up with the insipid hospital meal." He handed it to her and led her to one of the empty tables in the room.

Gaara watched them stealthily, it was not difficult for the chestnut to forge a friendly talk with the target, he even made her laugh, while they had lunch; for his part, he tasted a dish of insipid food, alone, while he spied them with modesty. After a while, the Medical Chief said goodbye to Kankurō, objecting that she should return to work, the chestnut said goodbye with a big smile on his lips.

"Oh, your face seems familiar," Ann said, stopping at Gaara's table and watching him closely. "Do we know each other from somewhere?"

Gaara paled when he saw that he had drawn the target's attention, a false move, and she would discover him. In the distance, Kankurō made signs for him to say something specific.

"I ... no ... I'm sorry, you must be confusing me with someone else hehehe..." replied the redhead as he gave the worst feigned smile ever seen in the world and put a hand to his lips with the intention of looking feminine.

"I see, it's possible, but you remind me a lot of someone... Do you have a relative hospitalized in the hospital?" Ann asked insistently.

"Well... not exactly ..."

"Oh, little sister, you were here, I thought I'd meet you at the hospital's entrance, as we agreed," Kankurō took part in the scene, trying to keep Gaara from being discovered. "How clueless you are Gaako-chan," he put his hand on her hair and shook it as if he were really a clumsy, sweet girl.

Gaara was bursting with rage inside, but he tried to cover it up as much as possible from his face, after all, Kankurō was "saving" him.

"Little sister, Gaako-chan?" Repeated the Medical Chief, as she looked at them with an examiner's look. "So that's what it was, your face looks a little like the one of Chestnut-san," she snapped her fingers as if she had solved a great dilemma. "Chestnut-san has never talked about you, how bad is that?" She said, addressing the redhead.

"Yes, my onee-chan... is very bad with me..." he replied hesitantly and embarrassed, but clinging to the role that had been assigned spontaneously, so not to raise suspicion.

"Huh huh..." the Medical Officer grinned as she looked at him with kindness. "Well, it's time for me to go back to work, bye-bye, Gaako-chan," she said good-bye, waving her hand and disappearing from the scene.

"Gaako" looked at her a little surprised and nodded with her gaze as a farewell. Once the two brothers were alone, they ducked their heads, they could not believe what they had just done.

"Don't you ever tell anyone about all this, not even Temari..." the Kazekage commented as his face turned blue from the burden.

"Oh, don't worry, we will take this disturbing scene just the two of us to the grave, although I believe, that I will have nightmares today because of this... Let's go home, we finished doing everything we could for today."

"Ha ... let's go ..."

The next day, Kankurō went alone to the hospital, using the same strategy as the previous day, Gaara this time would observe them from a more appropriate distance; he was on the roof, and with the technique of the third eye, he would watch closely the progress of his brother. Not that he liked to spy on them, it was just the only thing he could do for the moment, just watch. And be the reinforcement, in case his brother needed help, although that was very unlikely.

The encounter was similar to last time, although it lasted less time. Kankurō tried to make her stay, while he grabbed her arm, but she got rid of him abruptly, his brother tried to talk to her trying to calm her, which he achieved, but the girl said a few words that made the puppeteer stop talking, his his face became that of resignation. After that, she left in silence, and left him, staring sadly into nothingness.

 _"It seems that something is not going well, Kankurō must've said something that annoyed her," thought Gaara as he undid his technique and was preparing to leave._

"May I know what the Kazeidiot is doing on the roof of my building? Was he spying on me?" The character behind him asked in a dark voice, she moved closer to him, put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly, and whispered in his ear:

 **"... She lived always alone, in a world without an end or a beginning, the girl lived life by the sensations, but the truth, I do not care... I do not care..."**

Gaara shuddered hearing those words so close to him, the voice that emitted them sounded of agony and suffering. He jerked away from her. She had approached him in such a secretive way that even his sand had not caught her and warned him of her presence, she was certainly someone to be feared and kept at a distance.

"Oh, I knew my voice was not so tuned, but... Did I sing that badly? Hehe ..." Ann smiled wickedly, as she pulled off the hood that covered her face. Her face reflected a great void, especially her eyes, it seemed as if her mind was in a distant world. "It is the first time that we come face to face and you prefer to remain silent like a mouse paralyzed by fear. Do you not want to talk?"

The red-haired man had certainly been hypnotized by looking at her, and it was that look that she reflected maid him shutter and reminded him of feelings that he thought he had forgotten.

"It's nothing like that," the Kazekage said seriously, watching her earnestly, "but tell me. Why do you say it's the first time we've talked? Do not you remember-"

"I do not understand, aren't you always sending me a request to get together claiming you have things to discuss with me? I can not respond properly, since I do not have enough time to waste in formalisms," said the Medical Chief with confusion on her face. "Say whatever you want to tell me, be direct, but before that... answer me why the hell were you spying on me and chestnut-san?" She asked with a high degree of discomfort this time, as she folded one of her sleeves and formed a large, scattered blade of chakra. "Tell me who sent you to spy on me, or I will be forced to take the answer by force," she said, pointing her arm at him, giving him the clear intention that she would attack him if he did not respond.

The wind was starting to feel stronger, announcing the arrival of a sandstorm, it would not be long until it reached the village, at most in an hour. Ann's long hair, which was caught in a misaligned ponytail, was freed from the prison of the overcoat, by the wind; it swayed in the air as if from the tail of an imposing golden dragon.

"I can not tell you why I was watching you," the redhead announced, trying to take care of his words, knowing that he had an impulsive person in front of him. "Don't you think that it's irresponsible to try to face me, knowing that there is a hospital under our us, with weak people inside? Why don't you lower your hand and try to fix this by talking? I assure you it's the best way, and I'll tell you everything you can know..."

Ann slowly lowered her hand, suggesting that maybe the Kazekage was right. The latter approached deliberately, to take her hand and lower it completely to reassure her.

Kankurō appeared on the scene, having felt his brother's chakra and that of Medic in alert mode, and he had instinctively run towards them, floor by floor, looking for them until he found them. From his point of view where he was, it gave the impression that his brother and Ann-sama were having a very intimate moment, as he was holding her hand in a very close manner. He decided to remain silent to see what was happening.

"You have chosen wisely," said the Kazekage as he slowly let go of her hand, "now we should go down, we'll talk in your office..."

"But I never said I accepted your terms," interrupted the young Taiyō, as she quickly grabbed him by the arms, and pushed him aside; she took off her doctor's coat that was blocking her movements and headed in his direction with the clear intention of attacking him.

Gaara, for his part, created a barrier of sand around him, he had never fought against her or anyone of her clan, he wouldn't know how she would attack, so he preferred to be cautious and covered himself in a half sphere of sand.

"I knew you would take that defense position, how obvious men are," she said, taking some distance and making a hand technique. "Wind style, sound jutsu: demented scream!"

The Taiyō sucked in air, then threw a deafening scream, heading for the Kazekage; the frequency of the sound was so unbearable, it seemed as if death had screamed, but worse came later, when both Gaara and Kankurō began to lose their balance and see everything around them in a blur, causing the chestnut to kneel as a way of gaining back control. It was definitely a direct attack on their sight and ears.

She rushed toward him, dodging the sand hands that protected him, regardless of whether his stunned user ordered him. She had to endure the scratches that the sand did to her, to get close to her goal, and succeed.

"Land style, hermit jutsu: Levitation," she said as she laid one hand on the sand shell that protected its owner and with the other applied the hand poses for the technique.

Gaara was still stunned and grabbed his head with his hands to recover, he felt something changing in the sand that protected him, it was something he had felt before, in the war he lived, his sand had become light...

Ann walked back a few feet and taking impulse ran back to him.

Kankurō, who was all smoldering on the floor, was able to understand what the Taiyō planned.

"Does she think... she thinks ..." Said the chestnut as he forced himself to get up.

The Chief ran with all her might and centered all that kinetic energy on one of her legs, to reach her goal, to kick him, and throw him up in the air, as if he were a ball. Making him fall far beyond the outskirts of the Village.

She picked up momentum and leapt up the roofs and headed for the direction where she had thrown the Kazekage. Leaving a stunned Kankurō, behind, fighting himself to stand.

He felt the dry blow that produced his fall, causing the sand sphere that protected him to crack, leaving it uncovered, it took about a minute to stand and recover his vision completely.

"She's a stupid impulsive, to believe that she did all that, just because she wants to have a duel with me... I hope no one else in the village has suffered from that shouting," the redhead murmured worriedly as he looked towards the village. It was a matter of minutes before the storm to arrived, if he wanted to end this mess, he had to act fast.

"I hope you've already recovered, note that I walked here slowly on purpose just to give you time," Ann said as she walked slowly towards him. "If you let out everything I want to know, you'll prevent our confrontation. I'll warn you that you're not the only one who has an advantage in an open space, such as the desert..."

"I did not want it to get to this extreme," Gaara said, realizing that there was no longer any option for dialogue, that he would inevitably have to win the fight if he wanted to get out of this problem, "but I will be forced to appease your rebellious soul with a fight..." He began to make hand signs to create his technique, "Drizzle sand, in successive firing mode," attacking his opponent.

"I'm glad you made up your mind." Smiled wickedly, Ann, as she formed blades of chackra in both arms and went straight to attack him, leaping to the sides but never behind, dodging the bullets of sand, while shortening the distance between them.

 _"Her way of attacking is very obvious, it seems as if she has never faced someone on a one-on-one fight, but I must admit that she has a very subtle and agile style of movement, not to mention that she reflects great determination," thought inside his head the Kazekage._

She arrived next to him, with one hop, trying to nail one of his hands, as if her hand were a sword. Forcing him to move his arms, to direct the sand around him, and take advantage to counterattack. He forged a spear to improve his attack, using it like a sword.

The expression on the face of the Taiyō had changed, now she looked like a normal person, although it seemed to be difficult to keep the short distance between them, a real smile invaded her lips; the redhead noticed, he would have felt the same if it weren't for the situation they were in, he did not have time to enjoy a battle, he had to end this and soon.

He got distracted for a moment and felt the slight touch of a kick on one of his ribs, causing him to take a little distance.

"If you would stop thinking less and act more, that kick would have been easy to dodge," Ann announced, as she narrowed the distance again, making it clear she would not make it easy for him.

The blade of chackra crossed with his spear, causing a struggle between both, making it inevitable that they looked at each other face to face.

"I noticed that attacking is not your forte," said the redhead as he struggled with the spear in front of him, a miscalculation and the blade of chackra would come to him and pierce a shoulder if he dodged it quickly, he had to win. "Your form of combat is unpredictable, agile and even daring... You remind me a lot of the black mamba..."

"Oh, that's the best compliment, coming from a man, I've received in years," said the Taiyō, smiling with acceptance and still struggling with the arm she was using as a sword. "But do not think that with those compliments, you'll make me soften and let you win," she declared as she increased the intensity of the flow of chakra that stretched on her arm, causing his opponent's spear to begin to yield very slowly.

The Kazekage was going to release the spear he was holding, it was already a lost case that he was still struggling with it, he would guard against the blade that would approach him, with a little agility and luck, he was very likely not to get hurt. The storm had already arrived, he could see how the Village in the distance, in front of him, disappeared. Floating sand particles with blasts of hostile wind crashed against him and his opponent.

It was then, just a second before he released his spear, that two human figures appeared behind Ann. One approached her and whispered something in her ear quickly, causing all the fighting will that she felt to be in that moment, to disappear. She faded the blade of her arm, and bowed her head to indicate that she surrendered.

Gaara reincorporated himself, releasing his spear to one side, and focusing his gaze on the blurred figure that approached him, silently.

The battle was over.

END OF CHAPTER.

 **GLOSSARY**.

 **Bento:** Lunch box in Japan.

 **Kinetic energy:** It is the energy associated with bodies that are in motion, depends on the mass and speed of the body. Ex: The wind when moving the blades of a mill.

 **Black Mamba:** Scaly snake, the most feared in Africa and the world, since it has been classified as the most poisonous. It is a daring and often unpredictable species. It is agile and can move quickly. However, like most snakes, it is timid and protected by nature, avoiding threats.

 **NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR.**

Well, I don't have much to say about this chapter, it speaks for itself. I hope you enjoyed reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it. I await your comments, bye-bye.


	6. Chapter 5

THE SAND CHRONICLES CHAPTER 5

"Are you okay, Gaara?" He heard the chestnut's voice, while grabbing him by the shoulder.

The redhead recognized the voice of his brother, the wind with sand prevented him to see beyond his nose.

"Oh, I'm fine, do not worry," he nodded as he tried to spot his brother's face.

"Please, do not move, we will be transported to the Village," the Taiyō leader spoke as she rested her hands on the shoulders of the sand brothers. "Ann, move! Take us to the hospital," she ordered almost shouting.

The young Taiyō moved towards them and, speaking some strange words, placed a hand on her mother's arm.

Both Gaara and Kankurō felt that the atmosphere around them became heavy, physically speaking, they could see small bright rays accumulating around them. It was as if they had blinked, for a second everything went dark, and suddenly they appeared inside the Medical Chief's office, the four stood, with a bit of sand on the flood, which had teleported along with them.

"At least now you master this technique, it would have been useless on your part, after practicing so many years..." Daena-san began to speak as she rested her hand on her daughter's shoulder.

"Oh, that's right, mother..." Ann said dryly, her head was down, her eyes reflecting resignation and... fear?

The sand siblings remained silent, before that conversation.

"I give you the trust to work for the village, outside the gates of the clan and you disappoint me by lazily walking around in your free time and looking for fights with your superiors. Is that what I've taught you?" Daena asked, squeezing her daughter with the hand placed upon her. "Look at you, with wounds and your clothes discarded. It's incredible the world thinks you're much more beautiful than your mother, when you don't even take care of your appearance and actions." She squeezed harder, making her daughter react and show a glimpse of pain concealed in her face.

"I'm sorry mother, I'm not as perfect as you..."

"Obviously, you aren't," Daena pointed out, and noticing she had spectators in front of her, she let go of her daughter's shoulder. "With whom you must apologize first, it's the Kazekage. I understand that it hard for you to see someone so young with respect." She looked at the man and his companion with disdain for a few seconds. "But our clan has always accepted without question the military hierarchy that exists in our village, and has respected it.."

"I don't see why I should apologize, I didn't do anything bad," Ann said as she looked up and watched the redhead with a slight annoyance. "The Kazekage was spying on me, I gave him the opportunity to speak, but he refused, it was my right to demand answers, even if they had to be taken out by force..."

A hand landed dryly on one of her cheeks, she did not flinch, but rather looked sadly at the owner of that hand. Kankurō and his brother saw that scene a little uncomfortable, they exchanged looks apparently noticing something.

"I didn't ask you to talk, you must not interrupt me while I speak, listen in silence, and speak only when I order," Daena said, as she rested the hand that had hit her on her shoulder and slightly tightened it again. "Now apologize to the Kazekage."

Ann squeezed her fisted hands, she felt so humiliated... so vulnerable... so entered...

"I do not want to interfere in the way you educate, Daena-sama, but you are being very unfair to Ann-sama," said Gaara, part of his mission was to get along better with said person, but the current circumstances were in favor. "It is not necessary to apologize, I also partly acted negligently-"

"Gaara-san, I'm trying to be the most politically correct, please do not meddle or contradict me, specially in front of my daughter. Heavens, today's youth, don't even know manners," Daena said, interrupting the redhead.

"Damn witch, my brother was just trying to improve the environment, the impertinent one here is you," Kankurō answered annoyed at hearing such words.

Gaara extended his hand in front of his brother, as a sign of silence, his words would only cause worse consequences. The best thing for now, was silence.

"Chestnut-san... Are you the elder brother of the Kazekage?" Ann asked, hearing Kankurō's words. Disappointment flooded her face.

Kankurō cleared his throat, as she did not know the kinship that bounded him to Gaara. On the other hand, the Taiyō leader looked with great irritation at the chestnut.

"And what is an insignificant being like you doing here? You don't happen to be interested in her, right?" Daena signaled as she pulled her daughter, abruptly at her side. "She is not even of age, are you having a hidden relationship?"

Ann replied, "No, he's nothing of mine. At first I let him approach me for being nice and different from the other men who harass me, but today I noticed that he was interested in a romantic way, obviously, I rejected him. I will not cross words with him again, specially now that I know, that he is the brother of such a person..." Ann answered coldly, while lowering her head again.

"I see, I'm glad to know you chose the best option." Daena smiled wickedly, "Let's not lengthen this anymore, apologize once and for all."

Ann remained inert for a few moments, she simply refused to do it, but her mother was ordering it, if not...

"I... I apologize... for my... reckless acts, Kaze... kage..." She barely articulated, while looking at her side, did not want to see the mentioned man in the eyes.

"That's what you call a sincere apology? Where is the reverence? Do it well!" Pronounced her mother as she grabbed her from behind the neck and forced her to bend in an exaggerated way.

The Medical Chief let herself be overpowered by her mother, she stayed in that state for a minute. Daena looked expectantly at the brothers.

Gaara who held back and observed everything with disapproval, like Kankurō, decided to speak.

"Excuse me, please, get up Ann-sama, all this was not necessary."

Ann regained her composure, nodded slightly and went to the seat of her desk.

"Well, it could have been a better apology, but you can't expect much from her," Daena said, as she headed for the door. "Gaara-san, I came to talk with my daughter about an issue, but that can wait. As an extra apology for Ann's behavior, I invite you tomorrow, to a lunch in my home as a way to fraternize. Now that I think about it, since you took office, I have not congratulated you, let's make this occasion a special one, you are free to bring companions if you wish to, we'll see each other," she finished saying, then made a hand gesture as a form of farewell and left the scene.

Gaara nodded at the invitation and pronounced agreement, letting the Taiyō Leader hear him before leaving.

The silence reigned in the place, the sand brothers were left observing Ann in silence, who was centered in the papers of her desk.

Kankurō tried to apologize for what happened with the young woman.

"Ann-san, I'm sorry, for all that happened, I didn't mention that Gaara is my brother, but I did not do it with bad intentions, I want you to understand that-"

A letter opener grazed the side of his cheek, pinning himself on the back wall. Kankurō paled, it was more than clear that she did not want to hear it.

"Get out of my sight, if what you were looking for was to humiliate me... You have achieved it. Go at once."

Kankurō cleared his throat, making it clear that he did not want to leave things like that, her mother's appearance had never been planned by them. Everything had been part of bad luck.

Gaara tried to try to improve the situation of his brother, by speaking.

"Kankurō did not want to trick you, if you'd just let him explain, you would surely understand the reason-"

"Get out of here! You and your explanations can go to hell, I don't care to hear them," Ann interrupted furiously, the redhead's words. "I will not repeat it..."

Faced with such rejection, the brothers agreed, it was pointless to try to dialogue with her at that moment, it was best to leave.

"With your permission, we retire, I hope you reconsider listening to us," Gaara said before leaving.

A boot crossed flying by his side, it ended up embedding itself in the corridor's wall, due to the force with which it had been thrown.

"There is my answer," Ann replied coldly.

The redhead looked in amazement at where the boot laid and left the place without emitting anything else.

"We were moving so well, suddenly everything went out of control, and to make matters worse, Daena-san appeared, we should have foreseen that..." Kankurō lamented sitting on the couch in his home, with his view to the ceiling.

"I had already foreseen her appearance, but the chances of it happening were low," said Gaara, who was sitting on his knees in the center of the living room of his house, while looking through some copies that he had made of the information related to his goal. "Your plan is hopelessly canceled, so we'll have to give way to mine." He took a sheet of paper he had between the pile of documents and saw it as a beginning to start his plan. "If we can not win the trust of the Medical Chief, we will fight back by winning the trust of those in whom she trusts, we have to look for allies, since we can not do it alone," he extended a paper to the chestnut, he in turn received it.

"This is... well thought Gaara," Kankurō said hopeful, as he approached the table with papers where his brother was. "You're fast finding the weaknesses of people-"

"Now, don't flatter me before time," the redhead spoke as he extended two more sheets to the chestnut. "Everything is a supposition, first we will have to confirm that the relationship with the subjects and the Medical Chief are stable and favorable for our actions. It is the only thing we can do at the moment, we will start tomorrow, after attending Daena-san's invitation. Hopefully things will not get worse after that congregation. The redhead, got up from the ground and went to the window of the place, to observe the sandstorm that continued outside, he could barely see a faint light in the distance, the other buildings. "The storm season is about to end, this year they've come with much more intensity, it is as if the wind god was upset with us... I hope that Temari, has not anticipated her home coming and run into this storm on her way," the redhead said as he returned to his place on the floor, next to his papers.

"You worry too much about her," said Kankurō, smiling sideways," Our sister is not weak or dependent, she'll know how to cope if she ran into the storm."

"Oh, you're right, maybe I'm just worrying in vain." Gaara closed his eyes for a moment, something inside bothered him, but he could not identify what exactly.

"If there's another girl who worries me, it's Ann-san," said Kankurō, out of nowhere as he flipped through the other papers the redhead had given him. "I feel that something is hidden behind the unhealthy relationship she has with your mother, that despicable witch..."

"You noticed it too?" Asked astonished Gaara, apparently, the thinking of them both was not so different after all. "I was thinking about that right now, but I was not sure how to say it, maybe we have to find out about this, but, we'll leave it in the background for the moment."

"Oh, I think it's for the best," agreed the brunette as he got up and gave himself a stretch to relax. "Well, against whom will I go?"

"You start with the youngest, there is a chance that you'll have a good first meeting, according to the report he is a puppet fan among other things, try to interact as much as possible with him tomorrow, when we are at their home. After that you will go after Shun, she will be your second goal.

"Oh, the boy and the lady will not be a problem for me," said the puppeteer with confidence, "But, that means that you are going to interact with..."

"Ah... I'll go talk to Niashi, who along with Shun, were part of a team, along with Ann-sama, in the past. I would also talk to her sensei who was in charge of them, but, he died a long time ago, according to reports," explained the redhead.

"Gaara... Have you noticed that Ann, is not much like her clan?" Kankurō said directly, changing the subject, with an interrogation look on his face. "Her appearance is different..."

"Ah, but I don't see that as something important, genetics plays a lot in families, like us, the color of our hair is different, at first glance we do not look like blood brothers. The same can happen with Ann-sama and her clan. Moreover, we do not know who her father was... I rather not to think that maybe she is the result of genetic engineering..."

"You mean it can be a specimen being?" Asked Kankurō in indignation, "Without mentioning that it violates the laws and policies on heritage and ninjas, we are forbidden to try to be gods and play with genetics. All this sounds like something that a despicable being, like Orochimaru, would do... Do you think he has something to do with this?"

"No, it's a ridiculous assumption, it would be impossible for one of the most ancestral and honorable clans of the Village to have made deals with that individual. Plus, I have information that Daena-san, operated a medical program in her youth, specialized in the study of the human Genome, that is, DNA. She reportedly planned to discover and alter the chromosomes of people who possessed a Kekkei Genkai, in order to distribute them by doses to lacking ninjas. Obviously, the program was canceled, when she asked for test subjects, she needed humans to experiment. All the information collected was confiscated and gathered. Although, to be honest, I am astonished to believe that our father did not support this kind of classified experiments, and he was in charge of destroying them personally..." The redhead said while showing a lost look on his face.

"That's because our Father was not a monstrous and heartless creature after all, if you think about it, he could have given us to that damned old woman as test subjects, but he did not, even with you," the brunette said with a slight smile on his face, although it also reflected sadness in him. "He could have been somewhat serious and reserved with us, but I want to believe that he protected us by being like that..."

Gaara fixed his gaze on his brother, it seems that evoking things from the past, produced a certain sadness. Personally, he had already forgiven his father for everything of the past, thanks to the opportunity he had had to talk to him in the middle of the war, but Kankurō and Temari, they did not run with the same luck. Do they keep any resentment in their hearts?

"We haven't talked about that topic, since, I think ever. It is something that we should do one of these days, with tranquility, all three of us. For now, let's focus on the mission that was assigned to us, to successfully complete it. Don't you think Kankurō?" Gaara announced as he rested one oh his hands on the chestnut's shoulder in consolation.

"Ah, you're right, excuse me Gaara, I strayed from the subject," Kankurō answered smiling, seeing that his otouto was trying to cheer him up. "For some reason, I feel that this mission is mentally exhausting me, more than those in which we only have to fight physically to win..."

"The mental battles are the hardest to win, so we must be cautious, a wound in the soul does not heal as quickly as a physical wound. But what am I saying, I'm already rambling just like you. Your tricks are sticking to me, from having to work together so much, damn it," Gaara said bewildered, shaking his head slightly in denial.

"Hehehe it's the power of the older brothers, we tend to be influential in our youngsters." He put his arm around him, pulling him towards him, and with the other hand he was twirling his hair as if he were a small child.

"Kankurō stop, it's not fun, you're being disrespectful to me... Stop... I'll let Temari know when she arrives..." The redhead was saying, while frowning, he kept his arms crossed, without preventing his brother from continuing to entangle his hair.

The next day the storm had stopped, as had been agreed, the sand brothers, went to visit the Taiyō Clan at the invitation of their leader.

This place was located on the west side of the village, right at the end, the members of the same Clan were in charge of protecting this area of the Village.

A wall of well-maintained sand, about four meters high, covered the area inhabited by the families of this clan, separating them notoriously from the other inhabitants.

The entrance had a kind of golden gate, where the insignia of their clan was engraved, which was a blazing sun.

Kankurō was going to ring the bell announcing the arrival of both, but the doors opened before he did, receiving them was a man wearing a unique tunic, which was used by his clan. He had curly hair, a very light blond color, and honey-colored eyes, white complexion. He was corpulent, but he did not have an intimidating expression on his face.

"Welcome to our humble abode, Gaara-sama, Kankurō-sama," the man recited with decorum as he gradually bowed in respect. "Our Leader, Daena-sama is waiting for you at her residence, please follow me, I will guide you to the place."

The brothers nodded, entering the place cautiously. Once inside, the doors closed tightly. But it was something else that stole their attention. Inside, the place was like a hidden village that their eyes had never seen. There were shops, food places and children running around with their parents. Of course, all those people had the same physical characteristics: blond and curly, golden and brown eyes, those unique tunics they had, with the logo of their clan on their backs, women mostly, had their hair loose or braided, long until almost touching the ground. The men were taller and heavier than usual. There was one or another merchant from the village, alien to the clan, who walked among them, doing business.

"I feel like a minority, surrounded by so much gold," Kankurō murmured to his brother. "Here, we have the average height of women. Have you noticed?"

"Ah, that's what makes their clan stand out from others," the redhead answered softly. "They honor the nickname they've been given, they look like, "children of the sun.""

Suddenly the voices of some children, caught his attention.

"Oh, Ezac, look, look... That young man has red hair like the sunset," said one of the children, as he stopped beside Gaara and pointed his hand at him, "he looks weird and great, call mom so she'll see it-"

"Brock, idiot! Put your hand down," replied the other child, who would be a couple of years older. "Do you not know who it is? It's the Kazekage of the village, Gaarron-sama, if I'm not mistaken," the little one nervously. "Oh, forgive my silly younger brother, Kazekage, please," he said, seeing that the sand brothers had been watching them.

"He is not called "Gaarron", his name is "Gaara"," said playfully, Kankurō.

"Oh, it seems that the vassal of the Kazekage speaks. Have you seen his hair? It's the color if poop," .said one of the children laughing, to the other.

"Oh, true he's ugly... Poor thing, you should not laugh at his disgrace... Hum.. Hum," said the other boy avoiding laughing.

Gaara observed in silence, the bullyng that his brother was resolving from those children.

"What more spoiled children, my hair is brown, not the color of poop, I'm going to hit you!" Kankurō answered, losing his composure, as he always did, when it came to annoying children.

The children tried to run, but the mother of both appeared timely.

"Ezac, Brock, apologize with our guests. Do you not recognize that they are Kazekage-sama and his older brother, Kankurō-sama? You should be ashamed."

The children nodded and apologized appropriately.

"Again, sorry a thousand times, my children are very naughty and I almost don't have time to take them out for a walk around the outskirts of the clan, that's why they did not recognize you," said the distressed mother.

"Well, you do have them pretty badly informed lady," Kankurō, who felt more affected, said.

"Okay, the children are children, don't worry, apologies accepted," Gaara said, then pulled Kankurō's arm demurely, to continue on the road, almost no one had noticed his presence and he wanted that to stay that way.

But unfortunately, it could not be. People began to realize that the Kazekage was among them.

"Oh ... it's the Kazekage..."

"Lord Kazekage, good morning..."

"This hair is the color fire, without a doubt is the Kazekage..."

"That's Gaara-sama. What are you doing inside the clan's domain?"

"Who is the one who accompanies him? What ugly hair, it's the color of poop..."

And the murmurs, greetings and obeisances began to rain on Gaara, as was commonly the case. Kankurō, on the other hand, was annoyed. For his part, he heard fifteen times those people mentioning that the color of his hair was ugly...

They arrived at the leader's residence, it was a wide and spherical building, very similar to the headquarters, but smaller and ostentatious, pieces of gold adorned the entrance, doors and walls of the place. Inside, everything was white, it looked like they had varnished the walls with limestone. It was a place that did not retrain in luxurious architecture, the only time they had seen something similar was in the castle of the feudal lord which was located in the rocky lands.

"Oh, welcome to my home Gaara-san, please, you may accommodate, where you like, the room is big," mentioned Daena, appearing on scene. She was wearing a gold Kimono, her loose hair made her look less of an adult. She had a kind smile on her face, anyone who saw her for the first time would think that she was a kind being, but she was not. Wizus, thank you for bringing our guests, you can retire," she addressed the strongman that had brought the Kazekage.

"It was a pleasure, with your permission," he said, before disappearing from the scene.

Gaara and Kankurō nodded in greeting, and settled on the right side of the ostentatious banquet table in front of them.

Daena took place in the middle of the table, her children appeared behind her.

"Oh great, I could not believe you meant it seriously, mom," examined excited the child who appeared, he was about 12 years old, golden like all the clan, but had a sweet look on his face. "That is Gaara-sama, I had heard the rumors, but I always doubted them, it seemed impossible to believe that there were people who had sunset hair..."

The boy approached where the Kazekage was sitting and without being able to hide his emotion, he looked at him in amazement.

"Oh, now that I remember, you do not know my little darling and pride," Daena announced, as she watched her son pleased, "his name is Draco, our future successor..."

Gaara cleared his throat at such words. Would this little boy have a greater capacity than Ann to govern in the future? All this was very suspicious.

"Gaara-sama... I'm a big fan of yours, I'm so excited that you agreed to come to lunch with my family," the child said while extending his hands waiting for the receiver's reaction.

"Ah... I appreciate your devotion, Draco-san," replied the redhead, the behavior of that child seemed strange to him. He extended a hand, he probably wanted to shake hands in respect, well, that's what he thought...

But as soon as he held out one of his hands, the boy rushed towards him, and hugged him like a stuffed animal.

"Excuse my son, he is effusive and affectionate. Especially with the people he admires, like you," Daena explained proudly.

Gaara who had his eyes wide open in amazement, tried to control himself, if there was something that he did not like, it was exaggerated expressions of affection.

On the other side of the table, Ann sat quietly, dressed in a similar way to her mother, but her hair was picked up and well combed, she had light make up, although she had an "angelic" face, her her expression showed annoyance. It was more than obvious that she was internally forced to be in this encounter.

"Don't forget to say hello to our guests, Ann," her mother ordered as she looked at her questioningly.

"Good morning, Kazekage... Kankurō ..." The young girl said with indifference in her voice, as she watched with displeasure as her younger brother embraced the redhead. "Draco-chan... You're disturbing our guest, come sit next to me..." She said as she extended a hand to signal an invitation.

"Oh... It's not every day I have the opportunity to hug the Kazekage," said the boy with a voice of tantrum, "but, I will listen to you onee-chan..." He freed the Kazekage from his embrace and sat next to his sister, hugging her more effusively.

"Ah, good morning Ann-sama," Gaara announced, while internally relaxing, he felt grateful that they had freed him from the boy's hugs.

Kankurō did not speak, simply nodded in greeting. Apparently, Gaara had better chances to socialize with his first target, the boy.

They went on to taste the banquet that had been served to them, four servants servants appeared, ready to help both their masters and the guests. Daena began to talk about trivialities such as climate and occupational hazards of a leader.

In the middle of tasting, Gaara decided to release his plan to collection information. Kankurō, despite being the most sociable, had focused on looking for more ways to talk to Ann and her brother, who responded with monosyllables, clearly indicating that they had no intention or interest in talking to him.

"I do not want to sound indiscreet, but I must ask, Mr. Taiyō, your husband, I have not seen him, will he not sit down with us?" aked Gaara directly, with as much subtlety as possible in him.

Both the mother and the children were silent at the Kazekage's question. Draco saddened her gaze and hugged his sister, hiding his face in her lap. Ann gave a look of extreme annoyance to the redhead, although in the inside her look also reflected grief. It was the oldest of the Taiyō who decided to speak.

"Well, you don't beat around the bush, do you, Kazekage?" She put a hand to her face, to fix the rebellious hair she had on it. "I would have also wanted my beloved to be here, enjoying the pleasures of being alive, but..." Her eyes glanced surreptitiously at her daughter, reflecting hostility in them. "He died many years ago, Draco was a newborn when that misfortune happened... Sorry, but that is a wound that I find hard to talk about, even though years have passed..."

"Now I understand. I'm sorry for your loss. What was his name?" Asked directly the redhead.

Daena paled at that question, she was clearly not answering that question so easily.

"Why the question? It seems you care a lot about the name of my husband," she answered while looking inquisitively at her receiver.

"Simple curiosity." Gaara objected, his gaze was calm. "It seemed strange to me that you showed your children, but not the husband with whom you had them. Not to mention that you do not wear an engagement ring on neither of your hands, nor the wife's turban, which you should wear in spite of widowhood as a sign of your union..."

TheTaiyō opened her lips in astonishment at what she had just heard, the reflection in her eyes showed that she felt cornered, she put her hands together hands and squeezed them in nervousness.

But it was her daughter who responded to Gaara's words.

"Are you implying that my mother is lying?" Ann asked, with irritation. "My mother opens the doors of our home to offer our friendship, and you have the nerve to come here and ask with little tact and vulgarity about our family tree without reason, oh does this hve something to do with you spying on me with your repulsive brother all these past days? Do you think we are stupid and don't feel when others come to us with ulterior motives? It's about damn time you tell us, who sent you to harass us? Was it the leaders who cried to the fat feudal for not wanting to pay their debts as my mother asked?"

Then, the Medical Chief, gently pushed her brother aside and under the table pulled out a huge sharp sword and directed it towards the Kazekage, stopping a few inches from his face.

Gaara did not flinch at all, his face still serene, despite the aggressiveness with which Ann had responded.

Kankurō had reacted by pulling Sasori out, grabbing the sword from the center with his hands.

"Oh, don't rush Ann, I'm sure the Kazekage did not come with those intentions," Daena, erased the nervousness from her face and I reflect a smile of satisfaction. "Lower your sword, it would be very stupid if Gaara-san had come here just to gather information. Isn't that so, Kazekage?"

"I came due to your invitation, I simply asked out of curiosity, I did not think that subject would cause such an alteration," Gaara said, giving Kankurō a hand signal to put Sasori away.

Ann removed the sword that pointed to the redhead, like the chestnut had done.

"I thought so myself. Please excuse Ann, aside from being rebellious and clumsy, she tends to be impulsive and suffers from sporadic attacks of persecution syndrome." The older Taiyō smiled wickedly. "I'll tell you what you want to know, but first you have to promise not to divulge it to anyone. Okay?" She raised his index finger and brought it to her mouth in signal of silence.

Ann rose abruptly.

"But mother! It is not prudent to entrust the secrets of our family to people like the Kazekage." She pointed disapprovingly to the redhead, with her hand, "We should not risk-"

"Silence Ann, if we don't risk trusting others, who would risk trusting us? Besides, the Kazekage has the reputation of being a good confidant, I will trust him, so that he will trust in us, that's what I have decided," interrupted Daena. "Sit and listen in silence."

The Chief Doctor could not help but show her frustration on her face, she sat down clenching her fists in anger. Her little brother approached her trying to reassure her.

Both Gaara and Kankurō could not help but be exalted inside. Although outside they showed serenity. Ann had easily discovered his intentions, but luckily, the mother was going to reveal valuable information, opposing her own daughter.

"Well, it's something that hurts to remember, but I must admit that they were the most beautiful years I had in life, the Taiyō leader began. I was young and innocent, no... better said, naive. I fell madly in love with a commoner from the village, my love for him was so much, that I decided to break the commitment of the arranged marriage that had been assigned to me from my childhood. Obviously, my parents were against this relationship, to the extent of threatening to disinherit me, but I gave in to such a relationship. For me, that was more a gift than a punishment. I left the clan and dedicated myself to living my life with the person I loved being a common villager. But a few years later... my parents died in the 3rd shinobi world war. The second noble family was composed of infants, mostly, nobody trained to lead the clan. It was then that they looked for me and asked me to take the position that had been taken from me. At first I refused, but my beloved belonged to the troops of the Village, he was a very talented ninja, but did not belong to a clan. If I did not direct, the common army would be affected by the misdistribution of resources, of which, the Taiyō were its biggest suppliers. I took office, they would accept the future fruits of the relationship as noble, but not my husband, it was something that would taint the honor of the nobles in the clan, he could live with us, but would never be recognized as part of the clan, in fact, his existence would be denied both in the writings and in reality, he would be declared a ghost. He accepted everything that was imposed on him because he loved me." Her voice seemed to break with the memories that invaded her mind. "Years after the war, we decided to have our own family, Anngelius was born, it was a complicated delivery and I almost died in the process; That's right, she was so complicated to cope, from the beginning of her days." She looked with resignation at her daughter, while she ducked her head in shame at her mother's words. "Six years later Draco was born, he is the living stamp of his father, he is my everyday pride," she looked with love at the boy who was sitting next to his sister. "Unfortunately, my beloved did not have the joy of seeing him grow, a few months after his birth, he died on a mission... I could not even bury him in the village, since there were no traces of him, he was killed without mercy, those damn Konoha ninjas..." She clenched her fists, while controlling that the anger she felt was not reflected much in his face.

Gaara, who had listened silently and attentively, could not help but feel an oppression in his mind. The errors of the past of the villages came out again in this story.

"But don't worry Kazekage, I understand that the ninjas that I hated with my whole being, now must be suffering in the warm fire of hell, paying for everything; So I have no resentments saved towards that village that is now our ally," the Taiyō leader went on, the serenity returning to her face. "Sorry I had to tell you the story of my life, but only then would you understand why the name of my beloved is not in the records..."

"Ah, I understand, and I'm grateful you told me this secret of yours, explaining everything," Gaara answered earnestly, as he stared at her daughter, who was bending her head; the aggressive face that characterized her had disappeared, and a great sadness consumed her. Rest assured that this information will not be spread by me or by Kankurō, we will keep silent.

"I'll trust you," Taiyō announced. 'But I still have not told you the name of my beloved, he was called..."

After that, the lunch went by peacefully until the end, the leader and her children accompanied the sanf brothers to the entrance of the clan, saying goodbye there.

"It was a nice meeting, a pity that your sister could not come do to her assigned mission, I hope this will happen again in the near future," explained Daena. "Although with our charges I see it a bit difficult, surely you have a lot of accumulated paperwork just like me..."

"Certainly. Our next congregation will be pending, I think we owe you a lunch, but I won't forget about it," replied the redhead seriously, while bowing his head as farewell. He could not avoid focusing his gaze on the medical chief, there was something in her sad face that had him intrigued.

"Could it be that Gaara-sama likes my Onee-sama?" Expressed the child openly while looking at the slyly at the precisely mentioned. "Could it be that the Sun God will give me the joy of one day calling the Kazekage as my Nii-sama?" He was touched to the point that his eyes shone naively do to the idea.

Both Ann and the others focused their attention on such a comment.

"Don't say stupid things, silly younger brother, I would never notice such an ugly and unattractive being. Mother, I retire, I have more important things to do than waste time dismissing the riff-raff," the young Taiyō said angrily, withdrawing immediately from the scene, returning to the domain of the clan.

Both Kankurō and Draco were stunned by Ann's response, but those who did not even flinch were the Taiyō leader and the Kazekage.

Kankurō approached her, with as much subtlety as possible, their last chat had not ended very well.

"Shun-san, does it bother you if I sit down to accompany you? I brought coffee," the brunette said sympathetically, shaking the two glasses of coffee he held in his hands. "You seem a bit tired..."

"Oh, Kankurō-san, it was you, go ahead, you can sit down," the woman answered as she offered him the seat next to her, at her coffee table. "I have been on double duty for a few days, since my superior has been absent and I have to carry her responsibilities... Luckily, I have tomorrow free..."

The brunette knew what he meant, Ann had been absent from the hospital in recent days.

"I wanted to ask you a favor, Shun-san..." the brunette said.

"A favor... Well, that depends, if it is under my possibilities. Although I can not promise anything." Shun took a sip of coffee while studying meticulously the young chestnut in front of her.

Kankurō decided to be direct, that was not his style, but he felt it should be this time.

"You know that I come to visit Ann-san every time I am free, and that she interests me a lot..." He felt a bit shy, and it was because he had never expressed his feelings with anyone. 'You are the most reliable and close person I know, so I would like to ask you to tell me more about her. I understand that you have known her since she was little."

"Oh, I see you've been investigating on your own, it seems that your interest in her is genuine. Certainly, I have more interaction with her than any other person." The nurse looked at him with a naive smile on her face. But, I do not have much to tell you, Ann-sama is a somewhat complex and unpredictable person... She has been like that since... always. But I must clarify to you that she is not someone of bad heart, on the contrary, their is something worth admiring in her. Well, at least for me..."

"Yes, I've already realized a bit about it," Kankurō said, "I would never call her a "bad character", she only took that attitude when she came across the Kazekage. Do you know what is the origin of that disdain towards him?"

Shun fell silent before those words, his look showed insecurity, she did not know if she should talk about that subject with the chestnut, him being a relative of the Kazekage.

"Kankurō-san... I..."

Gaara had arrived at the address he had written. It was a small house, which was located on the outskirts of the village. He approached the entrance and knocked firmly on the door. Nobody answered. He tried again about three more times, but he had no answers.

 _"There are lights on, but I don't seem to see anyone inside, it will be better to return on another occasion, it begins to dusk and the wind is increasing," thought the redhead as he adjusted the turban that covered his head, which he had put on to go unnoticed among civilians, and the wind struggled to take._

He was about to leave, when three presences stopped in front of him.

"Who are you? And what are you doing at the entrance of my home?" The voice of a man was heard, he sounded worried when he saw a stranger at his door.

"My name is Gaara," the redhead replied, taking off his turban and revealing his identity. I'm looking for Niashi Taiyō, according to the description I have, that would be you. He focused his eyes on the other two individuals who accompanied him, they were two children, about eight years old, golden like the others in thir clan. The three had their hands full of shopping bags.

"Gaara-sama? It's you! I apologize, I did not recognize you," said the man, somewhat embarrassed, as he dropped the bags on the floor and hurried to open the door. "Come in, please, I don't know what your visit to our humble abode is about, but we'd better get inside, the wind is getting annoying," he spoke, while letting the guest in and then his children.

Once inside, the host received the Kazekage in his small room, inviting him to sit in the Kotatsu that was there. While he was trying to prepare tea to invite him.

The children, on the other hand, left the shopping bags in the kitchen that was located in the space that connected to the living room.

"Dear, there was someone knocking on the door a few minutes ago. Could you see who it was?" A woman's voice was faintly heard from the back of one of their bedrooms.

"It was the Kazekage, don't worry, I already made him coem in!" Niashi shouted from the kitchen. "Oh no... And I could not go to receive it, what a shame, I'll try to get up, the house must be a disaster..." The voice of sorrow from the weak woman was heard.

"Sahira, don't get up! Ann said you should rest, no efforts! There I'll send you the children!" Shouted again, the Taiyō as he handed a bag of medicine to his children, they took them, they said goodbye to the Kazekage nodding and disappeared in the hallway that connected the living room with the bedrooms.

Niashi finished preparing two cups of tea, and addressed his guest, sitting in front of him.

"I'm sorry to be intrusive, but I urgently need a talk with you," Gaara ronounced, accepting the tea that his host gave him, "I didn't know that you had children, that explains why someone with your rank, asked to be relocated to the academy, just as we opened it.

"Ah, they are my two suns, and my wife has not been stable for a couple of years now," expressed the Taiyō. He was a man who had just passed the age of thirty, attractive, dressed in simple clothes, and if had it not been for his children, and his own eyes and blond hair, he would not give the impression of belonging to the clan of the golds. "As a father and husband, I had to leave the ANBU to be close to those who need me the most. But you have not come here to prove my performance as an instructor, right?" Indicated the blond, while he outlined a smile on his face. He seemed happy to have the life he was living.

"Ah... That's right," said the redhead, while his typical seriousness invaded his face. " I have come to speak with you, for a different subject. I want you to tell me in detail about the team relationship you had, with Ann-sama. Absolutely everything," he said directly.

"You want me to tell you about Ann?" Asked with amazement and innocence the blond. "I have no problem talking about it, but first, please tell me what that fool did now, so that the Kazekage in person comes to ask me about her. Holy heavens, she is not a child anymore so she can't continue to behave in that impulsive way," sounding annoyed, "The next time I see her I'm going to give her some good blows to make her..."

And so, Niashi and Gaara had a long conversation, until almost dusk.

End of the chapter.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR.

AND WELL, WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE CHAPTER? WHO DID YOU LOVE AND WHO DID YOU HATE? THINGS ARE GETTING TENSE, RIGHT? xD

YOU ALREADY KNOW, I WAIT FOR YOUR CRITICISM, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, TOMATOES AND PIES THROWN AT ME, WHAT YOU THINK BEST. HAHAHA

GREETINGS


	7. Chapter 6

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 6

BEFORE READING THE CHAPTER, I ADVISE YOU TO DO IT FROM A COMPUTER, SO YOU CAN FOLLOW THE LINKS, WHICH ARE NECESSARY TO UNDERSTAND THE READING IN ITS ENTIRETY, DON'T WORRY, IT'S NOTHING COMPLEX ONLY FOLLOW THE LINKS WHEN THEY APPEAR AND YOU'LL UNDERSTAND. IT IS ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE CELLPHONE, BUT IT DEPENDS ON THE VERSION OF WATTPAD AND TELEPHONE YOU MAY HAVE.

He finished writing the report and placed it in the messenger hawk's small backpack.

"Tobimaru, you will take this message to the castle of the Feudal Lord that is located in the rocky mountains," he took his hand delicately to the head of the hawk and caressed it, the animal in turn received the orders with pleasure, "until you leave the Village, fly low, we don't want you to attract attention, be discreet on your way..."

He opened the window of his office and extended his hand where Tobimaru stood, he looked at his master and nodded his head. He could be an animal, but he was more intelligent and agile than many humans.

He spread his wings and took flight, disappearing through the middle of the buildings next to the headquarters.

The redhead observed the scene with serenity. Then his eyes focused on the blue of the sky, it was a beautiful clear day, that was just beginning.

He was not dressed in his white tunic that characterized him. He was in his new wardrobe that his sister had chosen him months ago. It was because his purple cargo vest, long board jacket and gray pants had aged a little. Temari always stressed to him that "he had to take care of his image" since he was the reflection and image of the Village. Even she and Kankurō changed their style of dress to accompany him, when he was voluntarily "dragged" to the clothes shop, by the blonde.

"I feel very light with these new clothes," muttered to himself, the redhead, while adjusting the sleeve of his shirt, which was still of a board colored as well as his new pants, giving him a more adult like image. Now he no longer carried a large gourd, after the war, his skills improved greatly thanks to the experience he had gained, and now he was only carrying a small gourd, which he held with ribbons and placed them on the lower part of his abdomen .

"You already sent Tobimaru with the report?," Questioned Kankurō entering the scene, pulling the Kazekage out of his mind.

"Ah, he just left," replied the redhead.

"Now I ask myself, what will the Daimio order us?" The chestnut put a hand to his neck, he was overwhelmed. "With Ann not being the successor to leading her clan, I can't help but think that our mission will become more complicated, I hope he does not order us to kill someone specifically... Although to be honest, I don't see a faster solution to the problem..."

Gaara looked intrigued at his brother, something in his words caused him irritation. They were ninjas if the situation mandated, they should play the role of assassins. There was no room for sentimentality in the life they led, at least, not for that case. The leader of the Taiyō was a threat not only for certain clans, if she was left for longer at ease, she could in the future, try to overthrow the current system with which the country governed the Wind country. Without a doubt it would be better to erase a couple of powerful and influential people to have to lose hundreds of innocent civilians and subordinates in an internal war.

"You seem you're more worried about a person in specific, Kankurō," the redhead pointed out as he walked towards the exit of his office, followed by the chestnut; They had nothing else to do there.

"Yes, I can't deny that I'm worried, just thinking that our superior's ordering us to attack her family and her..." he fixed her gaze sadly on the ground, as he kept walking.

The redhead, who walked beside him, fixed his gaze on the ceiling. The affliction that his brother professed was so contagious, but he would not let himself get carried away so easily.

"What a man of little faith... Your negativity can be felt in the air..."

The puppeteer came out of his grief, and observed his brother with annoyance.

"It is easy for you to say that, in this mission you're indifferent to someone living or dying, providing that the casualties are few, you will be satisfied," he said with anger in his voice. "In fact, deep down you would feel happy if something bad happens to Ann-san, and I know that because you get along very badly with her..."

Gaara stopped short when he heard that last part.

"Ann-sama is indifferent to me. Although my relationship with her is not good, I don't hate her or keep any negative feelings towards her," the redhead pointed out. "I consider her one more victim, involved in all this conflict... But that does not guarantee anything, you should not mix your feelings with your duties, Kankurō."

The chestnut, who had gone on a few meters, stopped in his tracks. And spoke with his back to him.

"I already know that. But tell me Gaara is it possible to avoid feeling? It is so necessary in humans, that avoiding it is as impossible as trying to stop breathing. Or are you going to tell me that you, even being the Kazekage, have not felt empathy for some of the people you have met?"

"I could be the Kazekage, but that does not prevent me from being and feeling like any other normal person..."

He started to walk again, passing a perplexed Kankurō, do to his response.

"I'm sorry, I did not measure my words, Gaara," the chestnut began to follow him.

"Ah, don't worry, I'm getting used to your spontaneous hysteria. What are your plans for today?"

"Well, we can't do much, until we get new orders from the Feudal, so I had planned to dedicate myself today to my puppets. Do you plan on continuing to research around, so you find some more information that we don't have yet?

"No, we already did everything we can in that aspect, and I have nothing to do in my office, so I'll take the day off, starting by taking a nap at home, I feel a little tired..."

"Oh? But the day has just started, didn't you sleep well? You know, it doesn't matter how much you sleep, those eye bags of yours, will never disappear," said the brunette.

And so, the sand brothers set out to spend the day at home.

Three people were by the seashore, the sea breeze giving a pleasant sensation of freshness in the air.

"I told you tune out a lot, don't get excited and concentrate more on the sound of your voice," claimed one of them, who had her face covered with a turban, letting only her eyes to be seen.

"Hai, I'm sorry, it's stronger than me, I have trouble controlling myself," said the girl, who looked like a teenager.

"She's very clumsy, I do not think she'll ever get it. What if you discard of her, and you bring me someone better?" said the third person, who was a young man of no more than 20 years, although he looked like the girl's twin.

"You are very bad with me, me. I know I'm not as good as you, but I am me, I'm me... and that's what complements us..."

"I'm not you, I am me, and that's what makes me better than you, me."

And so they began to argue in a confused manner, until the person in the turban interfered.

"Stop arguing about who's the best me, you're making my head hurt. Instead start training, that's why I'm here..."

"It's okay, me! We will do what you order!" The other two characters answered in chorus.

Two days had passed since Tobimaru had left. He almost arrived with Temari to the village.

Gaara was on the roof of headquarters when the hawk arrived. He extended his hand, and the bird lodged with energy on to it.

"Good job, Tobimaru," he took the report he had on his back, "You're free, go to the intelligence center, so they care for you and repair your tiredness." He extended his arm up, with force, so the bird could take momentum and making it easier to take flight.

Seconds later Temari arrived, she was panting, it seemed she had been running for a long time.

"Ah... Ah... damn bird, he beat me getting here. I'm back, Gaara," the blonde announced tiredly, taking a breath while resting her hands on her knees. "Tobimaru... Did he come from Nagashi-sama's mansion? He... has..." She asked as she continues to catch her breath.

"He has. Welcome, Temari." The redhead looked with emphasis at the state of his sister. "Some things happened in your absence, but let's not talk here, let's go home, and in the process you can recover with an energizer that Ito-basama prepares..."

"Okay, just what I need, by the way... And Kankurō? He was supposed to be a watchman today at the entrance to the village... I haven't seen him. Did something happen to the idiot?"

"Don't be impatient, wait until we get home, he is there."

"I see, and I had underestimated the outcome of that meeting," said Temari, somewhat concerned to learn of the mission being carried out by her brothers. "And what does the Daimio-sama order you now?

"Well, I don't know, don't ask me, who's reading the report, is Gaara," said Kankurō, who was sitting in the living room like his other brothers. "And based on his face he does not look good..." And certainly, the Kazekage had an expression of annoyance. He crumpled the paper, then made a ball and squeeze it with one of his hands.

""I leave it in your hands" I waited two days to receive such an insipid order. Had that been the case, he would have told me that from the beginning of the mission, we would not have lost so many days in vain... Stupid bureaucracy..."

"Don't get angry Gaara, remember that the Feudal is not so good in these matters, surely he wanted to help you, but he must be busy looking for a solution to the debt of the clans, as one to generate them more income," mentioned Temari, in a attempt to calm the discomfort of his brother.

"Temari's right. Better focus on the positive side, you are giving free power, you can complete the mission based on your prospective. Wasn't that what afflicted you and didn't let you sleep these waiting days?" Added the chestnut, with a certain air of joy.

Gaara looked at his older brother in amazement, not knowing that his behavior had been so obvious those last two days.

"You haven't been able to sleep well? Don't tell me you touched my sleep pills, in my absence, did you Gaara? Remember that you are forbidden to take stimulants," worried the blonde.

"No, I did not, don't worry," Gaara answered calmly at his sister's concern.

After that, they started talking about the mission Temari had done. A separate issue, that do to their luck, now did not demand their attention.

"And how will we act from now on?" Temari asked, as she settled herself on the sofa, settling her legs on top of it and pushing Kankurō further to one side.

"Hey, Temari, you are not part of this mission, the best thing is that you don't intervene," rebutted Kankurō.

The blonde cleared her throat, she did not like the idea, she wanted to take part in this.

"Kankurō is right, I appreciate your interest in wanting to help, but it is preferable that you stay on the sidelines, after all, I think I remember that you don't have a good relationship with our target, correct?"

"Well, yes, and especially now that I know that white grim reaper had the audacity to try to hurt Gaara. No girl will get out of my fists unharmed, she tried to mess with my brothers, as soon as I find her, I'll give her a beating she will never forget in her life," the blonde said decisively, while holding her hand rage.

Kankurō smiled at those words, while Gaara let out a sigh of acceptance. It was a hopeless case to try to convince her sister of something, as soon as she got an idea in her head.

"Okay, you will help us, but leave your fists and beatings for after we finish the mission. For today rest, your do the same Kankurō," said the redhead. "I will take a walk around the outskirts of the village, I need to clear my mind, and plan the strategy with which we will proceed..." He said, rising and disappearing from the scene.

Alone, Kankurō prepared to annoy his sister.

"Well, how did it go with your boyfriend?" He asked mischievously.

"You're going to start with your foolish insinuations," replied the indifferent blonde. "I only stayed in Konoha, for a food festival that was going to be held a few days ago... I never said I was going to be with Shikamaru..."

"Oh, but I didn't mention Shikamaru as your boyfriend... You just did, admit it you're interested..." The chestnut said confidently.

Temari turned red at what her brother said, she had certainly gotten Nara in the conversation.

"Shut up idiot!" The blonde said as she raised her fan and threw it to the chestnut, he in turn went away to his room fleeing from the teasing he had done to his sister.

It had been a couple of kilometers since he was away from the village, he was thinking deeply about how he would act from now on regarding the mission he had been commissioned, he felt stuck. How would he approach the Medical Chief, to the extent of earning her trust? And making her support them?

The information he and Kankurō had collected, with his former teammates, had not been of much use, none of them currently had a confident closeness with Ann-sama, to the degree of being influential in her life. Her younger brother was there, but it took him half a day to get away from him, after contacting him, he was quite clingy and he could not stand that type.

The warm breeze of the desert collided with him, making his red hair flare like a living flame, he felt the sound of voices in the distance, coming from the sea.

And it's because Sunakagure was, on the one hand isolated from the world by the immense desert, and on the other side, the infinite ocean that surrounded them.

 _"There are three presences, or only one, I find it hard to distinguish," thought the redhead, while resting his hands on the sand, using his sensory ability, all the desert sand was for him as part of his body, feeling the presences and beings who lived in it. "They are not so far, about seven kilometers, but this chackra... it seems familiar... it has to be... It's her..."_

It was decided he would go investigate. Already being less than two kilometers away, he decided to blend in with the sand, so his presence would go unnoticed, he was sure of it. And he did not want to have a fight again, with that character, but, he wanted to find out what was happening in that place.

The girl was sitting on the tip of a sandy cliff that was facing the sea, her blond hair dancing along with the mid-afternoon wind, two entities behind her, they listened in silence to her singing. Her face reflected great serenity.

The Kazekage went to one side of them, he could not hear well what the blonde girl said, he approached cautiously, until he could heard the words she was emitting.

Link to the music on YouTube: /ZSvTQqFUiro

Tell me what time it is

I still remember my beloved hometown

Thanks to the photo album we did together

But, why am I alone now?

I'm very lonely

I immediately knew that it was a dream

I ran towards the dead forest

I have to kick something

I'm looking for an exit from this dream

I have to go fast

I recognize your voice, I heard it somewhere

I can only travel in time

But that supposed eternity is not infinite

Tell me what time it is?

Come to my dreams and embrace me

Have my heart that has stopped, beat again

Please…

The Kazekage noticed that the girl was singing a cappella, the lyrics were somewhat confusing, plus the tone with which she sang it made him feel sad inside, he decided to continue listening to her.

Come to my dreams and embrace me

You are by my side

But you're probably living a different dream

I do not need the sun

The only thing I long for is your smile ...

"It's enough, and stop singing such blasphemy," said the person who had the turban on. "I told you that I wanted a song full of feeling, but not one that made me want to kill myself. Do you think we will win if we present this horrible composition?" She said with annoyance.

"I'm sorry, but it's the only thing I've been able to compose these days, it's the only thing that has come out of my inspiration, me. Replied the blonde girl, scratching her head and smiling with sorrow, sticking out her tongue naively.

The unknown being shook her head in disappointment.

"I think that it would be best to leave the premiere of our new song, for another time, so if better lyrics come later, we will have the time to rehearse them. Let's stick to our current repertoire, at the end of the day, our audience loves it," said the other being, who was the young blonde.

Gaara had been carried away by the notes he had heard, he was not someone who listened to music and he had never been interested, but the song he had heard seemed sad and beautiful, to the extent that he had not taken into account the distance, and was dangerously close to them, there was no more than five meters separating them.

The masked being looked up suddenly in the direction the redhead was in.

"Did something happened? It seems as if you have seen a ghost, me," said the blonde girl, as she stood up and pulled from the clothes of the mysterious being who had a serious attitude.

The other blonde young man looked at them with insight and continued to fix his gaze on the ocean.

"It's nothing, I felt we were being watched, but maybe it's just a huge bug, the kind that normally live around here," said the mysterious character. "It's already late afternoon, we'd better go back to the village. I have other things to do and you should continue practicing for tomorrow night."

The girl and the young man nodded and started walking towards Suna.

Their superior was left behind, as if waiting for the others to leave on purpose.

"You're not coming, me?" Asked the young blond, stopping and watching his superior intrigued.

The unknown being took out one of her hands that she kept hidden in his robe, made some hand positions and took out a water dragon, which collided with the ground, wetting everything around him, within a radius of 30 meters.

"What was that about? You have wet my feet, how clumsy, me," the girl said annoyed as she shook her wet feet.

The young man looked curiously at the ground, but did not say anything about it.

"I was only responsible for shooing that annoying bug that scared me minutes ago, that will teach it not to approach those who he should not. Walk," she said coldly and a sadistic smile reflected in her eyes under the turban.

"Mmm... how spiteful you are, me. Poor little insect..." Replied the girl ingenuously.

The three began to leave the place running at a speed, typical to a ninja.

A few minutes later, the redhead separated from the sand, he was completely wet, as he had directly received the water dragon. His hair was stuck to his face, he took off his shirt and squeezed it, then waved it in the air a few times and then put it back on.

"If I was already confused in my mind, now I sail in a sea of doubts," the redhead murmured as he shook his head, taking advantage of the wind that was beginning to turn strong to dry his strands, even if it was not enough. "Ann-sama, who are those other two that accompanied her?" Never in his life had he seen them, but they seemed to be members of the village.

It was then that he remembered the words of Niashi, Ann's former teammate, whom he had visited in order to gather information.

"...She is much simpler than she appears to be, she is a bit grumpy, impulsive and even clumsy. But she has a great and weak heart. That's why music drives her crazy, or at least, that's the Ann that I know, although it's been a long time since we've interacted, she only comes from time to time, to check my wife's condition, and maybe the person who I remember doesn't exist anymore... "

 _"Niashi, maybe the person you think you know, still exists," thought the redhead, as he walked back to the village._

An idea incubated in his mind, with a little more analysis, there might be the possibility of using what he had discovered, in his favor.

He arrived at his home, and after answering the overwhelming questions of his siblings, from seeing him wet. He told them everything he had in mind. Three heads thinking was better than just one.

"According to what you say, it seems that they were talking about the mixed concert that opens tomorrow night, in the underground amphitheater on the side of the city. Now that I think about it, Ann founded that place a few years ago. Maybe those other two characters are her students, or rising stars that she's supporting..." Temari said, while leafing through one of the many magazines that were on top of her. "Oh here it is, look, it's the announcement that came out recently, they say that singers from other countries will come, it's like a popularity contest, where it will be decided who is the best, and they even seems to have a prize..."

"The proper thing would be to go, and to observe the situation. Maybe some of those students will be a bridge to get closer to our goal," Gaara said while holding a hand to his chin thoughtfully.

"Yes, it would be ideal, but there is something that we are missing," Kankurō said seriously. "How the hell do you think we're going to go in there? It's a high event..."

"Well, buying a ticket? How else?" Temari said with a face of indignation.

"So? We'll, go and buy tickets for the three of us, if of course, you can travel in time," expressed with cynicism the chestnut. "Tickets were sold out months ago and only people who have reservations can enter. Even people from other villages have come from far away to witness this kind of event."

"Oh, damn... that's a problem..." said Temari, realizing that detail.

"Oh, that explains why months ago many foreigners asked permission to come to our village at this time, it seems it was for this kind of event..." Gaara said somewhat surprised.

"Well, that's a big problem, I doubt they'd let us in, especially hiding our identities and the best thing is to go unnoticed. Kankurō Do you have any idea how to enter?" Asked curiosity, Temari.

"Well, now that you mention it, we could use you," said the brunette confidently. "They say that the one who controls the entrance is an old pervy man who lets the pretty girls pass, if they don't have a ticket... but in return he asks for a kiss..."

"Stop saying such stupidity! I don't intend to kiss an old pervy man just to enter a tedious music festival," his annoyed sister said, while raising one of her hands with the clear intention of hitting him, but she was interrupted by the youngest of them.

"But that would only be effective with Temari, we are men, we could not use that tactic unless... We use the technique that Naruto taught me," Gaara said with total seriousness.

"We already used Gaako once and it turned out badly. Do you remember it?" Kankurō said with a face of horror, remembering the past, making his face turn blue like that of the redhead.

"You've already used that technique? When? You've not told me about it," Temari said curiously.

"It's not the big deal, forget what we said!" Replied the sand brothers with horror and in chorus, leaving the blonde more confused and curious than she already was.

And so they ended that day. Between discussions and claims, the three sand siblings, drew up their plan, which would be to have contact with the Medical Chief and her pupils, maybe in a place like that concert, they had more opportunities to negotiate an agreement, taking advantage of the good humor of their target.

The evening of the planned day began, Temari with "Gaako" and "Kanra" they went to the end of the queue, it would take a while to enter, but they would take advantage of the guard's relaxation to coax him to let them enter.

Temari wore a very nice outfit, although she had left her two pigtails, she had a red dress somewhat tight but had thin black hose that covered her legs. Gaako by her side, who was Gaara in fact, was dressed in loose pants and a shirt, she was not very outstanding, but her long hair made her look terribly adorable, specially with that ponytail that Temari had combed to her side. Kanra, who was Kankurō, wore short shorts and a tight shirt, she almost looked vulgar if not for her long brown hair that covered her great neckline and gave a cute touch to her image.

"Your tickets," said the sturdy guard, who was non other than the same Taiyō who had received them at the entrance of his clan, the time they were invited by Daena to her villa.

"We could not find tickets. Could you let us pass? We are only three and we have been waiting for this concert for a long time... " Temari said, but with a voice that was gentle and seductive.

The guard wrinkled his forehead and replied coldly.

"Without tickets, nobody enters, they are the rules, good luck for the next concert. Next."

The strong guy pushed them with one of his big arms towards the side of the line, without mercy.

"Is that what you call asking with subtlety? It seems that you almost hit the man! With that character no man will like you and you will live as an old lonely maiden for the rest of your life!" Kanra said angrily, while scolding the blonde.

"I was as gentle as I could be! Don't bother me," Temari said annoyed. "If you criticize me so much, why don't you try it?"

"Well, that's what I intend to do! Follow me," the brunette said, dragging Temari and Gaako to the line. After a few minutes of waiting, they returned to the strongman.

"You guys again? I already told you, without a ticket you do not enter, get out of here!" Expressed the guard annoyed.

"Sir, please, we want to come in, if you don't want to do it for me or my blonde sister.. do it for Gaako-chan," Kanra said tearfully, as she placed the silent Gaako to the side of him. "My sweet younger sister, she loves music more than anything else in the world, and it is her dream to be here, music is what keeps her happy, despite being a poor timid girl," she stepped on Gaako's foot, while giving her a big pinch from behind, on her back, to make her feel pain. "Or is it that you can't see the despair and suffering on her face?"

Certainly Gaako's face showed pain, but it was because of the pain that his brother was imposing on him, pinching him and Temari added herself, pinching him harder on his back.

The guard raised his eyebrows as he fixed his gaze on Gaako. "Her eyes were watery, on the verge of crying and her lips pressed with her mouth as if she could not wait to scream. Finally Gaako decided to speak.

"Please... Sir ... let us in ..." she said releasing her tears, she put her hands to her face as she dried her tears in a tender way.

This last act, completely softened, the guard's heart.

"Little girl, don't cry, understand that I only carry out orders." He patted her on the head to comfort her. "It's ... impossible to say no to a creature as cute as you..." He stopped for a moment hesitantly. "Okay, I'll let you pass, but please stay away from the front rows of the stage, otherwise, they'll ask you for a ticket and if you don't have it, they'll throw you out..."

"Tha.. Thank... You..." Gaako answered, being the first to enter followed by her sisters.

"Thank you, sir, you were very kind," Kanra said, embracing him as a way of giving thanks and winking at him.

"Don't be vulgar," Temari murmured as she pulled her by the hair pulling her inside.

Walking on the path from the corridor to the place itself. Gaako stopped and turned her back to look at her sisters with eyes full of hate.

"When we finish this mission, I'm going to take revenge on you, for the embarrassment that you made me pass in the entrance, you will see..." He turned and went on his way.

Temari and Kanra looked at each other in panic, they had gone overboard, they should have at least told him what they would do.

They arrived at the place, which was immense, there was more than 10 thousand people in that place, all squeezed, they danced pushing each other, while in the background there was a well lit stage where the singers made their voices be heard.

The music was deafening at times, more so for Gaara, who compared to Temari and Kankurō, had never visited such a place.

Link to the music that played at that moment /oZZKrCZnAhw

Temari, took her brothers by the hand and entered them mong the great mass of people, although the guard had told them not to go near the stage, it was just that place they wanted to go to.

A young boy got in front of Temari, and grabbed her arm as an invitation to dance, she attempted to dodge, but the subject insisted so much that she had no choice but to neutralize him by giving a strong kick in the stomach, since her hands were occupied, making sure that her brothers did not get lost.

"Did she kill him?"

"It looks like he's dead. What's wrong with that crazy woman?"

"No, he's just unconscious..."

It was the murmurs Kankurō and Gaara heard as they continued to be dragged and watched as some gathered around the guy who tried to seduce their sister.

The minutes seemed eternal, like that deafening music which Gaara could not distinguish from the others, at last, they reached a few meters from the stage.

Temari released them, from there each one would take a separate path, thus they would have more possibilities to meet their objective or her students. Gaara, still transformed, hurriedly walked through all that crowd, which he noticed were mostly youngsters of his age, some tearful and excited, screaming frantically at the characters that were on top of that stage. He was halfway to one of the entrances that connected behind the stage. But silence took over, it seemed that a new singer was introducing himself, he spoke for a few seconds and then started singing, he would have not fixed his attention on him, if it hadn't been for what he hear in that song.

Link of the music playing 1BsvYTPJswQ

"She lived alone,

In a world without end or beginning,

The girl lived life by sensations

I do not care, I do not care ... "

He had only heard once the tune of that music, but he would never forget who did it. It sounded as equally shattering. The Medical Chief had sung it the same on that occasion...

He fixed his eyes on the stage, and there was the blond boy he had seen on the edge of the sand singing it, although he did it in a language he did not understand. The people around him began to shout excitedly, as if there was no tomorrow. He took a false step and fell. Several people stepped on his hands, someone stretched out their arm, helping him to get up.

"Are you okay? Redhead," asked the blonde girl, who was more exactly a teenager of about thirteen or fourteen years. Come, follow me, you'll be safe with me, behind the stage.

Gaara let himself go, he knew it was the girl he had seen the day before, but decided to use her, so he would reach his target faster.

They came to stand behind the stage, there were many cables and speakers, people running from one side to the other, and some people dressed in a strange and extravagant ways to his eyes, inducing him to be singers.

The music sounded strong, but not as much as on stage. It was possible to talk and listen.

"After all this, what's your name?" Asked the blonde girl while sitting on folding chairs that were on the side and placed for them to rest. She took out a small box from her pocket, which turned out to be a small first aid kit and she healed and bandaged her damaged hand.

"Gaako," the red-haired man said dryly.

"Oh, you're so serious Gaako, you're not the type who talks a lot, right? It amazes me that someone like you has come alone to this kind of place."

"I'm not alone, I separated from my sisters, I was looking for them," states Gaara.

"I see. If you want I can help you look for them, but you can't wait here, this is exclusive for the musicians, I'll take you behind the dressing rooms, you'll wait for me there..."

"Is the boy at the front, singing that sad music, your relative?" Asked directly the Kazekage.

"You must be referring to my brother," said the girl. "Don't tell me you're his fan, in a few minutes, I have to go on stage with him, if you want you can wait in our dressing room, I can introduce you if you wait," Indicated the girl while winking at him.

Gaako nodded. They went to the place and was left alone, with the door between them open and closed. Gaako sighed. The minutes passed, she kept listening to the loud music that was outside, but he had to try and concentrate. He had to known what he would say to Ann's pupils. For some reason he felt uneasy, he was aware that his socializing skills were not good, especially with people his age.

He was going to undo his transformation jutsu, since he did not see it advisable to be in that current form. But he was interrupted by someone who entered. It was the blond boy.

Gaako who was sitting, looked at him naively, her big girly turquoise eyes reflected a tenderness that could soften even the hardest and coldest heart. The blond boy looked at her amazed, it was a matter of seconds for him to get hypnotized in that look. His face turned flushed.

"You must be the fan that waited for me... I never thought that perfection existed, before I saw you..." He approached Gaako and grabbed one of her strands of hair, to appreciate more closely the color.

"To be honest, I came to..." Gaara said as he walked away from the subject, he was too close for his taste and he made him very uncomfortable the way he looked at him.

"I know what you came for," interrupted the blonde, while taking one of his hands prisoner and joining it to his, "It's destiny knocking at our doors..."

"I'm not sure what you mean, but I'm not who you think I am," Gaara arched his non-existent eyebrows, in a sign of distrust. Then he pulled his hand, freeing himself from the blonde's closeness.

"Well, I am, you are the most precious being I have ever seen and Cupid has shot me seconds ago, saying that you are for me." He lunged at him and grabbed him in a big hug, making the redhead put on a blue face from the panic, he hated that kind of situations.

The blonde did not see the blow coming and fell stupefied on the floor, while rubbing his injured cheek, he saw with misfortune that his sweet redhead was gone and in her place an angry boy who had the appearance of being the... Kazekage?"

It was then that the blonde girl entered the scene, but she did not understand the situation.

"I'm tired of dealing with this issue with subtlety, now the two of you are going to sit down and you are going to listen to me," pronounced the irritated redhead while slamming the door and securing it using the sand that was on the walls, making the entrance disappear.

The blondes, looked at each other as they sat in silence, due to the orders of their now mad abductor.

Kankurō and Temari, on the other hand, had collided with themselves several times, deciding to work together. They found Ann who was dressed very much in accordance with the event, she even looked like someone else. She was wearing shorts, white dance shoes, a colorful blouse, and her long hair was pulled back in a somewhat disheveled ponytail. They followed her as much as they could, until she entered back stage, unfortunately there was a guard guarding that entrance, they had to wait a long time for there to be no more people walking around that corridor, and so that they would lower their guard and be able to pass. The music at full volume gave the impression of the minutes being eternal.

Gaara went straight to the point, he explained that he needed their help to convince their superior, because otherwise, things would get very difficult for the their own clan and he did not want to reach those circumstances.

"Look man, what you say is terrible and I can understand you to some extent, but we have no voice or vote, if you want to say something to our boss, you'd better tell her straight, if she wants to hear you, of course. I wish you luck, "the blond girl announced as she tried to find the exit by touching the wall.

"Agape is right, instead of wasting time locking yourself here with us you should go find her right now, and take advantage of her good humor, since this is the place that fascinates her most in the world," the blond boy added while looking nonchalantly at the redhead.

Gaara closed his eyes in resignation, they were certainly right and it was time to take the problem from it's root, he had tried everything possible in a subtle way, now he had no choice but to be direct, and that was something he was pretty good at.

He undid the seal on the door and left, without first saying goodbye to those strange blondes who had advised him.

But he hit someone at the entrance to the dressing room. It was Ann.

"Good evening, Ann-sama. I was just looking for you," said the redhead as he watched calmly, they were the same size, so they could not stop their eyes from staring at each other for a few seconds.

"And I thought tonight would be the most perfect evening I would have in my life, but you had to appear and with your presence ruin everything, Kazekage..." The Taiyō said as she turned to the side and went inside the room to talk to her pupils.

Gaara looked in amazement at the expression on the girl's face. She seemed a different person, he stood watching her.

"You've done very well! Eros, Agape," Ann encouraged, embracing those mentioned by the neck and shaking their hair in a praise. Omitting completely the presence of the Kazekage that was at their door. "Your symphonies and notes came to my soul, now we just have to wait for the contest and it will be all, we will close this day as the best of our lives..."

"As you say, me!" The girl, Agape, said excitedly.

"That's how you say it, me!" Eros, the blond, commented effusively.

Kankurō and Temari arrived on the scene, however they stayed and observed, like Gaara, the strange way in which the Medical Chief behaved.

"It would be best you three retire, or I'll call security, here, people like you have no power," said Ann, as she released the blonds from her embrace and headed to the door, leaning on it, in a very comfortable way.

Temari clenched her fists, she disliked that character very badly, even more when she spoke or addressed Gaara with that tone of voice, so egocentric. Kankurō was the one who calmed her, it would not do any good and it would make things worse if she behaved in an aggressive way.

"I've noticed that you enjoy this kind of environment, and I know that you consider me "inopportune" in your view, but I must talk to you about something very important, which can affect your clan in a very serious way, I'm sure you do not want that ..."

"How are you so sure of knowing what I want or don't want, Kazekage?" The young Taiyō interrupted. "You do not know who I am, or how I think-"

"But I know, you have a brother whom you fervently adore with all your soul, and who can be affected if you don't choose to cooperate with me," the Kazekage assuredly interrupted her this time.

Ann opened her eyes with fear, the happiness that had invaded her minutes before, had vanished.

"Oh hell, this shit got serious..." Agape said, as she witnessed the atmosphere created by the Kazekage and her superior.

"I'm going to wash that mouth with soap, what terrible language," Eros murmured as he covered her mouth with his hand, so that she would not say any more vulgarities.

Ann closed her eyes while internally holding a conflict with herself, in order to decide how to act. The Kazekage watched her with such seriousness in his eyes, that it would make anyone give in to such pressure.

"Eros, take Agape and go get in line for that contest, I will end this problem once and for all. I won't take long."

The pupils nodded and left the place. Temari and Kankurō decided to remain outside as watchmen.

They sat face to face. It was Gaara who began to speak, telling her everything, from the meeting where her mother had taken an aggressive stance, until the moment when the Feudal Lord gave him his last instruction.

"In summary, you are telling me that if I don't betray my mother, you will be in charge of "disappearing" her to solve the problem of debts that the other clans have with ours, not to mention that there may be the loss of innocent people like my sibling, people of my clan, subordinates of yours and even myself, right?" Expressed with seriously, Ann.

"Yes, I am pleased to know that you understand easily," Gaara announced.

"Well, it will be done, sooner or later I knew that this would happen, my mother is a pretty confident woman, she put this rope around her own neck, if it is time for her death, so be it, I will not interfere with Fate, I warned her a thousand times, but she never listened to me..."

"One moment, you aren't referring to-" the restless Kazekage said.

"I see that you and I speak in the same direct way," the Taiyō said with a malignant smile. "As you have just understood. I don't intend to take part in my mother's problems, if my clan is condemned to extermination, so be it, the only person that interests me there is my brother, the others, everyone, but absolutely everyone, can go to hell itself. If there is someone to whom I will give my life if necessary to save, it will be my beloved younger brother. After all, those who supposedly are my "family" can die, their presences don't matter at all, maybe I'll feel sad for my mother, but she is a somewhat despicable being, I don't think she deserves any of my tears, anyway. Maybe Draco-chan will cry for her...

Gaara could not believe the words he was hearing, he opened his lips in astonishment, that way of speaking, that tone of voice, it contained hatred, it was as if he was seeing himself when he was lost in the darkness, years ago.

"You must not be serious..." Was the only thing the redhead could articulate.

"Well, yes, I'm saying it seriously Kazekage, in fact, I had never spoken so seriously in my life," she arched one of her eyebrows, seeing that he did not believe her words. "If that's the only issue you wish to talk to me about now, I'll retire. You already know my opinion and position on this, and don't worry, I won't say a word of this to my mother. And even if I did ..." She hesitate as if remembering something, "As you witnessed the other time, my words for her have no value. With your permission..." She got up, heading to the exit of the place.

"Wait, you can't choose that, you can not do that!" Gaara spoke as he held her, holding her by the arm. "I can feel the hatred that emanates within you, I can even understand to some extent your actions; but I can not allow you to choose that, if you decide to let this happen, you will regret it in the future and suffer for it," He said with anguish in his tone, for some reason, he felt that his eyes wanted to fill with tears, something oppressed in his uneasy heart.

"We must not grieve for the future, since it will have its own concerns, I only live in the present Kazekage, and never look at the past, since it can not be changed, no matter how much remorse or tears you accumulate in it," she squeezed one of her hands in the form of a fist. Chiyo-basama was right about one thing, when she told me about you. You are a very soft being, one of these days that will be your downfall, Kazekage..."

Gaara released her, he had already noticed that the Medical Chief would not change her mind.

"I'm sorry, because it did not respond in the way you wanted me to, but it's not something that only I chose, there is something that we humans call "destiny" it's something that we can not change ourselves, just accept. With your permission."

Ann left the place, smiling kindly towards Kankurō and Temari as a farewell, they for their part, looked amazed at such a reaction

Gaara came seconds later, his eyes were off, he felt he had failed everyone, but worse, he felt he had failed himself and his ideals.

"Gaara, what happened? You look strange..." Temari said, approaching him and watching him with concern like Kankurō.

"Temari, Kankurō all we could do here, we did it, let's go back home..." Ordered the redhead, as he walked slowly through the crowd, he did not care if someone recognized him at that moment. His siblings followed him in silence.

The place began to clear up little by little, the concert was over and they were finishing placing on the stage, a rare and giant device that was half floor, half screen.

A horrible screech was heard on the speakers of the place, seconds later a man started talking.

Ladies and gentlemen, young boys and beautiful girls, the concert is over, but not the fun. Now we will give way to the dance contest, you know the rules, if you lose you're out, if you win, if you can, this year's prize is an immense endowment of extra strong bitter chocolate and it is not just any chocolate gentlemen, but the very same chocolate imported from the land of fire. You can choose that prize or... drum roll please," the man told the audio managers. "The beautiful Ann-sama will fulfill any wish that you want, it was difficult to convince her, but our sponsors reached an agreement with her. Ann-sama, come and talk to me, for the skeptics who don't believe what I say."

The young Taiyō took the stage, grabbed the microphone they gave her and started talking.

"Certainly, that's right, the person who wins this dance duel, can choose between a year's endowment of the best chocolate that exists on this earth or make a wish, I'm not the genie of the lamp that comes out in storybooks, but my power is absolute, so much so that I don't need to use magic to fulfill the wish that the winner decides. Although if I'm being honest, no one will win, since, the ones the participants will have to face, are my pupils, Eros and Agape, and they have never lost a dance duel."

Gaara stopped, turning around to see where Ann and that presenter were talking, there were a lot of people around them.

A very crazy and stupid idea crossed the redhead's mind, you could say it would be the first idiotic and foolish act he would do in his life, he could not help but smile, thinking the nonsense he was about to do, but he wanted to take a risk, something inside him shouted that he should do it.

"Kankurō, Temari, how much do you know about dancing?" He asked calmly, while watching his siblings.

They looked at him perplexed, they could not believe what he was trying to imply.

"Well... I'm not bad at all, in fact I can even say that I'm an expert, I train every day, when I'm taking a bath," emitted a bit hesitant at the beginning, Temari, but she gained confidence and finished self-praising.

"So? Well, I defend myself very well," answered Kankurō, at his sister's confidence.

The redhead looked at them with satisfaction, it had encouraged him more, to know that his siblings would support the madness that he was about to put in plan.

"You know how to dance?" Asked with regret, Temari. It was that she could swear that, she had never, seen her younger brother even move his head to hear a catchy or happy song.

"I've never tried it, but I learn fast," the redhead replied confidently. "I have the great certainty that one of us can win the prize we need." He changed his direction, and went to the place where the others were beginning to crowd. Kankurō and Temari followed him, with the same confidence reflected in their faces.

This was not going to be a simple duel or dance contest, it was going to be a massacre.

 **Author's note:**

 **Hello everyone, I don't know what reactions this chapter will cause, I, however, wrote it in between laughs, and this was because I imagined in detail each scene. To the point of feeling like I was watching it on the screen as if it were animated and not just in my imagination. The chaos will continue in the next chapter. Tell me which part you liked the most, kisses.**


	8. Chapter 7

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 7

People around him began to murmur, the ones at the table in charge of registering the contestants, were puzzled to see who they had in front.

"We want to compete, what do we need to enter?" Asked the blonde, with the typical rudeness that characterized her, while resting one of her hands on the table and looking defiantly at the registrants.

"Temari-sama ... you ... Do you want to enter this contest? It's a dance duel ..." the boy in charge said, a little hesitantly.

"Are you implying that we can't dance? My brothers and I are great followers of contemporary music," Temari said annoyed.

"I did not mean that miss, it's ... it's ... that ..." Added the girl, accompanying the manager.

The eldest of the siblings began to speak with more force, the people who were around looked exalted at such a scenario.

"I think Temari is going over board... Gaara, wouldn't it be better if you talked?" Kankurō muttered to his brother.

"Oh, certainly. Talking with delicacy is not our sister's strengths," replied the redhead.

"Temari, let me talk," the Kazekage said, gently brushing aside his older sister and standing in front of the registrants. "Good evening, sorry for the inconvenience. Is there a problem for why we can not participate?" He articulated with subtlety towards his overwhelmed receptors.

"Well, not really Gaara-sama," the boy in charge scratched his head in an nervous way, "Only we did not expect to have participants of such ranks... don't get me wrong, it's just that if you look around, they are all young or civilians, and-"

"My siblings and I came as civilians," interrupted Gaara, taking advantage of the argument. "We are not asking for special treatment or something similar. Please accept our registration."

The managers looked at each other nervously, murmuring something under their breath.

"Excuse us a moment, we will inform our superiors," articulated the girl, getting up fleetingly, disappearing behind the stage.

Kankurō taking advantage of the time, began to manifest.

"In case they accept us, who of us will participate? It is a duel two against two."

Temari looked a little surprised at the chestnut, like Gaara. They had planned that the three would participate.

"I suppose it will be you and me, Kankurō." She adjusted one of her ponytails. Gaara doesn't have to participate in all this. This way, he will take better care of his position..."

"I think we should not underestimate our opponents," the redhead looked seriously at his siblings. "The favorable thing would be that the three of us participate, according to the rules, it is a valid option." He took out the flyer he had in one of their hands.

Temari frowned, she didn't like being corrected, not even by Gaara.

"Oh, at what time did you take this?" Kankurō asked curiously, as he took the paper from his brother and began to read it.

"It was lying on the ground, there are many scattered everywhere. Have you not noticed?" The Kazekage replied slightly upset.

And the rules were simple, you only had to dance on top of that huge platform and follow the dance instructions that were given, for each success, a certain amount of points was awarded to the participant. As it was a versus, when one of them moved away from the other by an amount greater than 200 points, a winner was chosen. They had three songs as an attempt, that is, if you lost in one, you had another chance, but if you had two failures in a row, you automatically lost.

The girl returned to the registration table, said something in her partner's ear, then smiled at those she had waiting in front of her table.

"Excuse the delay, my superiors deliberated before the situation, and did not see an inconvenience, but," the voice of the boy in charge had a bit of fear, "they should wait their turn like all the other participants."

"It seems fair, please inscribe the three of us in a group," the redhead pronounced.

"Oh, well, I was afraid it would bother you, it's not necessary to tell me your names, I mean, you are the best-known sibilings in our country," the girl said while writing on her spreadsheet. "It is 5000 ryos per person, in total, they will be 15000 ryos ..."

Gaara parted his lips, he did not think you had to pay to participate in such a thing. 15000 ryos was what an average chunin earned in a mission rank B. It seemed an exaggeration, but had no reason to claim at that point, he hadn't even paid for entry to that place, and luckily they had not noticed.

"Do you have enough to pay, Gaara?" Temari asked discreetly, talking out of hesitation. "I did not bring that much, I knew we would need money, but I did not think these places were very expensive." She reached into his neckline and took out the bills she was hiding there. "I have 10000 ryos. Kankurō How much money did you bring?"

The chestnut began to look in his pockets, he was somewhat anguished.

Gaara cleared his throat, he always brought with him three times that amount.

"No, do not worry, I'll pay..." He murmured serenely, while he put one of his hands in his pants pocket, but in seconds, he discovered with horror, that his wallet was not there. It can not be..." He began to grope his other pocket, in case he had made a mistake.

But the sad reality was that, he did not have his wallet available. He had lost it, maybe in the transformation while he was dragged by Temari in that sea of people, or maybe...

"Don't tell me you've been robbed," Kankurō said, narrowing his eyes and making a face of indignation, noticing the current condition of his red-haired and naive brother. "But what kind of person puts his wallet in such simple pockets, as these dress pants, even more so when he goes to a concert?"

Gaara looked down, he felt so clumsy, his face turned blue with worry.

Kankurō took out of his shirt the 5000 ryos that were missing and gave them to Temari.

"Here's for the inscription." The blonde put the cash on the table.

"Very well, I know that the amount is high, but this year's prizes are worth it," the manager announced, taking out some tickets and putting stamps on them. "We wish you luck, I think you will be the favorites of the competition. Here you have your number, please wait your turn in the seats assigned to the right side of the stage..."

"Oh thank you. And it is obvious that we will win," said the one with the pigtails, raising her number, retiring and being followed by her brothers.

The crowd around them turned away from them as they walked to their assigned place. The murmurs were heard.

"What are these people doing here?"

"Do those in the Kazekage clan like this kind of event?"

"I'm excited. Did you see who is with Temari-san and Kankurō-san?"

"I hope you don't think you can easily win here, this is another world, it's not a world for ninjas..."

"Hey don't speak so loud, they could hear..."

"Gaara-sama, Kankurō-sama, Temari-sama ... Kya ... what a beautiful way of dressing they have ..."

They had to wait for about half an hour to start the event.

The presenter spoke a few moments, reminding them the rules and started the duel.

On one side were the pupils of Ann, and on the other the unknown contestants. Although the place was not even half as full as at the beginning of the concert, there were a couple of thousand spectators, who shouted, applauded and booed depending on the occasion when the participants arrived, many did not finish the first song, the score exceeded 600 points of difference. Eliminating them directly from the competition.

The sand siblings, looked closely at the stage. Compared to the other participants, they had never rehearsed for what they had to face, although the giant screen indicated how to move, if you did not set the pace, the score was bad.

"They move like a stream of dancing sand, before a storm," the redhead murmured, as he watched his target's pupils.

"That's right, little brother," Kankurō answered, imitating the cross-seated pose his younger brother had.

"Don't forget that to win, we will have to give everything in that place, try not to think, just feel and find the rhythm ..." Said Temari confidently, while smiling, a smile of pride.

Her younger siblings watched her and nodded at her words.

After waiting twelve turns, it was their turn.

Temari would go first, it was first against Ann's younger pupil, it was a girl, so according to her, it would not give her any trouble. She had already seen her move and she felt that it gave her an advantage.

Gaara and Kankurō, watched silently and carefully from one side of the stage.

"Aren't you a bit old for this? Lady?" Agape said, stretching her arms and looking with a naive smile at her opponent.

"Who are you calling lady?! Damn girl," Temari replied, letting herself be carried away by her temper.

"Madam, you should not get angry, that's going to make you age faster, you have to be happier," the girl said as she put her fingers on the ends of her lips and stretched them into a forced smile.

Temari was going to answer her, but the music started to play. It was a very lively song, there were many wiggles and weird steps, not to mention the movements of the hands.

The pupil of the Medical Chief moved like a leaf in the wind. Unfortunately, Temari did not run with the same luck, her movements were dry and reduced, it took many seconds to recreate the step, even so, she manage to overcome the first song with difficulty, although losing by a difference of 310 points. It was in the second round that she was not so lucky. Not even half of the song had passed, when the judge stopped, declaring Agape as the winner.

People shouted with madness, some excited, and others showed disappointed in the reflection of their faces.

Kankurō moved from the spot where he was standing, along with the redhead and went to the stage.

"Don't hold back, Kankurō, be strong," Gaara said spontaneously as he watched the chestnut man move away.

"Oh, leave it to me," the latter replied in the distance.

The music began to sound, the chestnut started well, the song that had been played was moved, but did not require much effort.

Agape tried to deconcentrate him by speaking to him in the same way she did with his sister, but the chestnut did not care. It seemed that he had caught the rhythm, his movements were pleasant and subtle. The spectators began to get excited, at times to his name could be heard as a support.

"I think he's doing better than me," said the blond girl, who had returned to the redhead's side. "You can do it Kankurō!" She finished saying this, shouting.

Despite the deafening scream of his sister and the crowd there, Gaara drew a small grin of approval on his lips.

Kankurō managed to defeat Agape, winning with the slightest difference in the first two rounds.

It was then, when on the other side, the change was made and Eros appeared. His face was calm and closed. The presenter began to speak, saying that if the chestnut managed to beat him, he would win the duel and with them the prizes.

The spectators shouted excitedly, but in this case, on two sides, since that guy Eros had his own group of fans.

The sound was present again, it was electronic music, which had variants of style, the steps were rare and very fast. At times even small pirouettes should be made. Kankurō did not take long to be overwhelmed. Very contrary to the opponent, which even with closed eyes, moved in an amazing way, it is as if the music and him were one.

Only half a song had passed, when everything stopped, showing in the score a difference of 800 points, giving the undisputed victory to Eros.

Kankurō, exhausted, fell on his knees on the ground for a few seconds. Until a hand extended to help him get up.

"You weren't bad, get up..."

Kankurō looked with sorrow at his brother's eyes, he was sure he would win, but he didn't.

"I'm sorry, I could not continue..."

He accepted his help, rising from the ground. Gaara nodded slightly at his words, he looked very calm.

Eros, looked at them with indifference, and jumping, left the stage. Leaving Gaara alone.

And is that according to the rules, the third member could save his team, but would have to start from scratch.

Agape appeared on the stage, showing the same confident face on her face

"We meet again False Gaako" he said in a funny way. "This time you won't dance being her?"

Gaara watched her in the same way as if she were a fighting opponent.

"You are not a person of many words, right?" retorted Ann's pupil.

A sepulchral silence surrounded the atmosphere, everyone waited impatiently for this moment.

The music began, it was a pop style, easy movements to make, Agape on the other hand, danced to rhythm, but his opponent had not moved a single foot, if he continued like this, in a matter of seconds she would win.

"If you don't move, you're going to lose, False Gaako," the girl replied.

The Kazekage only looks at her in that same inquisitive way that he looked at everyone.

People began to murmur, yes, only to murmur, because no one was fool enough to boo someone with the highest status they could have in the village.

Kankurō and Temari watched in silence, although they did not understand his brother's actions, they knew that he would have an argument before such.

"You will quit at this time, granting me the victory, or if not, I will notify your superior that you stole from me, when we were behind the stage," muttered barely audible, the redhead. As for only his opponent to hear him.

"That's a bad joke, Gaako-san," she said, still dancing.

"At such a denial, I have no choice but to look for Ann-sama right now..." the redhead said, moving with clear intention out of the platform.

"Wait! Don't do it, I can not cause problems for her," the girl replied, with anguish. "I'll do what you say, but please, don't say anything..."

Agape stopped her movements, looked worriedly at his rival, then feigned a faint.

The music stopped, the presenter went up exalted to the stage, nobody understood what was happening.

"In case of you're unable to continue, that makes me the winner, right?" Stated with security the redhead.

"Ah, that's what the rules say, it would be better to continue with the next opponent," the man said, signaling to the staff to take the fainted girl.

The presenter gave his verdict, announcing the Kazekage winner. The spectators, seemed somewhat dissatisfied with such result.

Eros appeared again on the scene, still not opening his eyes. Gaara looked at him in an analytical way. If he wanted to beat him, he had to find his weak point.

The music started, it was a mix of electropop, the blond opponent of the Kazekage began to move happily, while he, remained inert, on his side of the platform.

"If he stays there all stiff, he will lose. Move Gaara! It's not that difficult, you just have to get carried away by the music!" Kankurō shouted euphorically, as he nudged Temari to imitate him.

The blonde was perplexed, although her chestnut brother was right, this was Gaara, who was never the soul of the party, on the contrary, was always the party pooper.

The murmurs did not cease among the spectators.

The Kazekage had closed his eyes, he seemed thoughtful, if he did not do something in the next few seconds he would lose irremediably.

But an idea illuminated his mind, he was somewhat annoying and embarrassing, but he saw no other option.

"If you let me win, I'll let you see Gaako again," he muttered under his breath, only to be heard by his rival.

And he succeeded. Eros, who was still dancing with his eyes closed, stopped short at the offer.

"Can you promise me?" asked the blonde seriously, while his cheeks turned red.

"Ah, then, do we have a deal?" the redhead inquired directly, while his face turned blue from being overwhelmed, he could not believe that something so stupid would work.

"We have a deal, Kazekage, I hope you'll comply, or I'll see to it that you don't close your eyes at night, ever again," the blond said, stopping at his dance.

The only way out, was having a physical impediment that prevented the character from continuing to dance. So the blond, took a sudden jump to one side, deliberately dislocating an arm.

The spectators were terrified, the presenter returned to the stage, confirmed the status of the fallen participant, and made the signal for him to be taken.

"Do to everything that happened, this makes me the winner, right?" Said the redhead directly, he could not believe it himself, but he felt triumphant, in a certain way.

The man put a hand to his head in concern, there were no more adversaries. He raised his microphone to announce the obvious result.

"Well done, Gaara," Temari said proudly, "I don't know how you did it but you were very strategic..."

"Damn lucky, winning without having to danced," murmured his chestnut brother.

But the sensation did not last long, a presence took a place on the platform, taking the microphone from the host, to prevent him from speaking.

"Not so fast, this is not over."

It was the young Taiyō, she was wearing a different outfit from the one she had been seen before, it seemed that she was ready to... Dance?

She pulled a microphone out of her other hand and started talking.

"I don't know if I was the only one who saw a certain irregularity in this duel," she walked slowly and with a somewhat funny step towards the Kazekage, who was still in his assigned place. "But this is supposed to be a dance duel, and I have not seen this "redhead" dance." The spectators began to murmur more than usual, at such words. "Do you think that someone like that has the right to win? Because I do not think so…"

The crowd was silent, although everyone thought the same as the Medical Chief. Nobody was encouraged to say, and is that damn it, they felt much respect for such a person.

"I say that, if there is no dance, there is no prize," Ann added enthusiastically.

Gaara looked seriously at her, seconds ago he had even managed to taste the victory.

"I've won, there's no one to face me," he said in his favor. While moving confidently to the presenter, guarding him with his eyes, making him understand that he should speak and give the expected result.

"Hey! Not so fast Redhead," the young Taiyō said as she pulled the presenter beside her, preventing him from speaking. "As an organizer of this kind of events, I will not allow someone to take the victory in such an irregular, if not tricky, way. Are you going to tell me that it was a beginner's luck?"

Gaara remained firm despite such words, from now on, he could foresee that this situation would be complicated.

"That what I thought, and about there being no more rivals, well... I'm standing here and the right thing would be a three versus three right? My team only showed two of its participants. Wouldn't you all like a duel Kazekage VS Ann-sama?" Articulated defiantly the blonde while looking with confidence to her possible rival.

The spectators began to whisper, it was more than obvious that everyone was excited by the idea, but they did not dare to express it. Until a blonde young man from the middle of the crowd began to scream safely.

"May they dance! Let them dance! Let them dance!"

People turned to that person, for a few seconds hesitated, but then joined his request.

Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance!

The cries of the request intensified. The pressure came to affect the sand siblings. Temari clenched her fists with fury, while Kankurō tried to calm her down. Gaara, on the other hand, showed a serene attitude, although the overwhelming feeling consumed him from within.

The host decided.

"Well, you have to give the public what they are asking. Do you agree?" He asked the other two people he had next to him on the platform.

"By me there is no problem," the blonde answered cheerfully.

"If there is no option..." The redhead replied indifferently.

The presenter gave the signal, indicating that the duel would continue.

The audience shouted with great emotion. For some reason, the girls were more noticeable among the screams.

The rivals took their places, the music began to sound.

He sighed, trying to calm his internal commotion, he was going to do something he had never done in his life.

 _Tonight..._

 _I just take you higher_

 _Throw your hands up in the sky_

 _Lets set this party off right ..._

Everything seemed that it would be a song with quiet notes, but it turned out to be a very lively party music.

"What's wrong hipster? Is this a lot for you?" The Taiyō said, moving in a fun way to the music.

It had been twenty seconds and the redhead did not move. But he could not help but be bothered internally by the words that his rival had dedicated.

He looked decisively at the command screen, it was now or never, he decided to take a chance.

He began to move, although the movements were complicated, it was not difficult to follow the steps, something that had taken him by surprise. The only variant was that it did not reflect emotion on his face.

The spectators almost instantly split into three groups, those who supported their favorites and those who shouted madly, for being able to witness such a moment.

 _Oh shit!_

 _I'm a dangerous man with some money in my pocket_

 _-Keep up-_

 _So many pretty girls around me_

 _And they're waking up the rocket_

 _-Keep up-_

 _Why you mad? Fix your face_

 _Is not my fault you are all joking_

 _-Keep up-_

Kankurō and Temari watched their brother in an impacted way, they never thought they could one day see him in those ways.

"I must be dreaming, Gaara is dancing," articulated perplexed the chestnut. "Temari, pinch me please, to verify that this is real."

The blonde did what the chestnut asked her.

Returning to the stage, Ann could not help but show her amazement, to discover that her rival did possess skill for the dance.

"It seems that the bird discovered that it has wings and it was animated to fly," she emitted with grace while she continued dancing.

Gaara just watched her, but decided not to respond, his goal was to win that contest to take advantage of what was offered as a prize, and he had to concentrate for it. Being the most slender of his siblings, gave him a great advantage when moving. But he had to admit that little by little he was beginning to take pleasure in listening, the song was in a language he did not understand, but he could feel the vivacity that it was transmitting.

The minutes passed, and the song ended. On the huge screen, the score was shown. The young Taiyō had surpassed him by 195 points, awarding him the victory with the lowest score that had been registered in what was going of the contest.

"If you can not express what you feel through the movements, your defeat is predestined," the blonde warned, without looking at him, closing her eyes for a few moments, just as Eros had done.

The redhead could feel a warmth run through his body, and is that moving and following such a complex rhythm for him, represented a great effort, even more for his lack of habit. It was like being in training, although the latter would have seemed easier.

The second music began to play, this was much quieter than the previous one, but the steps were relatively more complex.

 _Baby, love never felt so good_

 _And I doubt if it ever could_

 _Not like you hold me, hold me_

 _Oh baby, love never felt so fine_

 _And I doubt if it's never mine_

 _Not like you hold me, hold me_

 _And the night is gonna be just fine_

 _Gotta fly, gotta see, can't believe_

 _I can't take it_

 _'Cause baby, every time I love you_

 _It's in and out of my life, in out baby_

 _Tell me, if you really love me_

 _It's in and out of my life, in out baby_

 _'Cause baby, love never felt so good_

Discomfort arose in the air, apparently not even the Taiyō knew that this type of song would be on the list of the contest.

And it is that the steps to follow required dancing as a couple and not in an individual way, although their faces turned blue because of the embarrassment of the steps, they followed them literally, with all the professionalism possible, neither of them was willing to lose.

The spectators began to shout and whistle in a shocked way, the fans were thrilled to see how their favorites danced so "confident" so to speak.

A few seconds before finishing the happy music, Ann slipped. Making her fall to the ground, she rejoined almost immediately, but could not help losing points.

The board was paralyzed, and the score was shown. The redhead had managed to overcome her by the minimum difference of three points, giving him the victory.

"It seems that the night is on your side," mentioned with displeasure, Ann.

"It's not the night, it's destiny, which knows I must win," said confidently and seriously, the Kazekage.

She gave him a great look of hatred. She could not bear to see the security he issued.

The presenter took the stage before starting the last duel. Being the last to decide the winner. They would be given free mode, although there would be a dance guide, doing it in free mode would grant more points, giving whoever used it, the sure victory.

Gaara showed concern on his face, this was certainly a negative thing for him, since he lacked experience in a free mode.

Ann smiled confidently.

The music started, it was an electronic base, undoubtedly the ideal to give free movements.

 _One more time ..._

 _One more time ..._

 _One more time ..._

 _I'm gonna celebrate_

 _Oh yeah, all right_

 _Don't stop the dancing_

Ann from the beginning decided not to use the base of steps, she moved freely, like a leaf in the wind. Her female body gave her a great advantage, which made her curves stand out elegantly every time she went around.

Her fans began to be noticed more than the others, they began to chant her name as a support.

Ann-sama! Keep it up, daughter of the sun! Ann-sama! Keep it up, daughter of the sun! Ann-sama! Keep it up, daughter of the sun! Ann-sama! Keep it up, daughter of the sun!

Gaara, had limited himself to follow the guide, advancing in score, but in a slower way.

Temari couldn't stand the impotence of seeing how her younger brother was left behind, she went as close as she could to the platform, dragging Kankurō with her and started shouting at him as a support.

"Gaara! You can do it, don't let the white grub win! Show her how great we of the sand can be, when we set our mind to it! I know you can do it, don't think about it, just feel it and prove it!"

"Go, Gaara! What Temari said is true!" added the chestnut.

The youngest could not help but be affected by the words his siblings shouted at him. It was true, he had to give his all, to win.

In addition, the cry of support from his siblings, part of the audience began to imitate them, giving their support to the redhead.

"If I lack rhythm, I have no choice but to imitate the one I have in front of me," he thought as he fixed his full attention on his rival.

He began to imitate her movements, with a bit of awkwardness at first, but he managed to level himself.

"So you decided to copy me, I don't blame you," said the Taiyō, while she continued with her somewhat seductive dance. But let's see if you can follow my rhythm," she threatened.

She increased the speed of her steps, moving her arms more, and adding more bobbing.

For the Kazekage it was not difficult to follow, causing many screams of fangirls in the audience, but everything exploded when he decided to loosen his shirt, to feel more comfortable, taking off the buttons, to have it loose, screams were heard asking for help in the audience, reporting fainting.

"So you want to play dirty, using your appearance," Ann said, noticing the uproar caused by the redhead's performance. "But sand can never shine and stand out more than sunlight.

Then she took off the shirt she was wearing, revealing her good worked abdomen. Shouts were heard from the audience. But it did not end there, as she decided to remove the ribbon that imprisoned her golden and long hair.

Now she seemed to have on her a great golden dancing dragon which hypnotized everyone who looked at her, her movements were daring and showy, it seemed that she had a life of her own.

Step, step, pirouette, jump, wiggle, step, step, jump ...

While it was Ann who was leading the way, Gaara did not allow her to leave him behind. She did not notice the moment when she unconsciously smiled sincerely and forgot that everything was a confrontation that she had to win. Thing that did not go unnoticed for her rival. Who did not reflect any expression other than concentration.

The scoring timer on the screen did not stop advancing, it was almost impossible to see them individually, that caused more adrenaline in both the contestants and the audience.

Temari had grabbed Kankurō by the arm with one arm, from the nerves, while with the other she formed a fist in support. She kept shouting the name of her younger brother, as support, and do to the emotion and euphoria thag had taken over her, turning her into one more of the fanatical public.

 _Music's got me feeling so free_

 _We're gonna celebrate_

 _Celebrate and dance so free_

 _One more time_

 _Music's got me feeling so free_

 _We gonna celebrate_

 _Oh yeah!_

He could not take it anymore and he tried to fall as aesthetically as possible to the ground.

He ended up lying on his knees before the giant screen, with his body back, he had his fcae red from fatigue and the adrenaline that had invaded him, his breathing accelerated, forced him to breathe agitated and his hair was messier than ever.

His opponent continued to turn a couple of seconds more and then stopped, while still standing, and ended up with a very profiled pose, where her legs were half crossed, one of her hands resting behind the back of her neck and the other hand extended so horizontal, as if pointing something to her right.

"Wooo ... yeah!" The blonde said victoriously.

The audience suddenly shouted a great cry, most seemed happy with the result.

And she continued dancing, without losing the rhythm, around the redhead. The song was not over, the score was still advancing on her side.

"What's up, Red? Is it all you can give?" She laughed provocatively and mockingly. "Don't tell me you reached your limit, I just barely finished heating up.."

Gaara tried to get up, but felled to do so, he felt that everything around him was moving. The music and the annoying voice of his rival did not help him at all.

In seconds the song finished. The screen showed the results. The score varied by only 50 points, which gave the victory to the golden clan.

"Oh, dear, this was a massacre, I honestly did not know who was going to win," the presenter said excitedly. Don't feel bad Kazekage-sama, you're the first person who could deal with Ann-sama for more than one song. You should not feel bad, for having lost against her..."

Then applauses began to rain for the winner, which ran to the crowd as if she were a rock star, to celebrate her triumph, most of the audience focused on her, including the presenter.

Temari and Kankurō took the stage to see how the state of their younger brother was. He had already regained his breath, but his frown showed great annoyance. He was disappointed with himself for having lost.

"You did very well Gaara, but it was almost impossible to beat her, she has years in this world, you just started today, a couple of minutes ago, to dance," expressed Kankurō, who was not surprised by the result.

"Oh, Kankurō is right," added his blond sister. We have nothing to do here, let's go home.

Gaara nodded at those words, but just under the stage, many fans tried to harass him and shout their praises. But they could not, and Temari put her face of few friends, causing the screamers to move away and let them pass quietly.

The three of them walked in silence, through the still deserted streets of the village, it was about four thirty in the morning.

"I'm going to get home and I'm going to throw myself like a bomb to my bed, I'm so tired that I don't even think about bathing, the nightlife is not for me, in fact, I think it's not for any of us," explained the brunette while yawning at the lack of sleep.

Temari had her big heels in her hands, she was barefoot and with a sad look on her face. She was almost certain that her younger brother would win, but perhaps they had underestimated his rival.

Gaara who was ahead of them stopped short. He turn to his sib1, with a look of distrust.

"Whoever you are, show yourself," said the redhead, fixing his gaze on the pillar behind Temari, a few meters back.

The blonde reacted with a jump, along with Kankurō, they put themselves in defense position, they had not felt thr close presence.

The figure of a person appeared from behind the pillar, it was the pupil of the Medical Chief.

"You are very sensitive, Kazekage-san, I was sure that none of you would feel-"

"What are you doing here? Has your teacher sent you to follow us?" Asked directly the redhead.

"Yes, in part. She told Eros and me, that for years she had not had such fun giving a "beating" to someone, dancing," she laughed. "She ordered me to let you know she decided to change her mind, about the answer she gave the Kazekage about "that" matter. And it is that she is someone so unpredictable, she can hate one day a thing, and the next day love that same thing..."

"Where can we meet?" Inquired flatly and immediately, Gaara.

"Oh, your cold and direct way of asking things hurts my soft heart, Kazekage. That's not a way to treat a lady," the girl said, as she raised her hand to her heart in an exaggerated way. "Anyway, she'll contact you, in the safest and most guarded place in the village... That's all I'm saying, I should go..."

"Wait," ordered the youngest of the siblings.

The girl stopped, while reflecting great innocence in her eyes.

"What? Do you want to give me a message for her?"

"No, I want you to give me back what you stole from me, "Miss thief"," he said.

The girl looked pitying, certainly she had already declared her guilt.

"Here you have, but I did not want to steal it, you tempted me, when you were lying on the ground, pretending to be a sweet girl. Also, I tool you out of there and healed your wound, you did not thank me for that, remember." She extended his wallet.

Gaara accepted it, to immediately check its content, it was completely empty, there was only his ID card and a few coins.

"Very funny, now give me the money that was inside."

"No... I found out that you did not pay for the entrance, so I took the liberty of collecting it from there, I missed a certain amount, but it's fine, I gave you a discount for being three people. Now if you excuse me, I must leave, or me will be angry with me ... bye bye ..."

The girl disappeared into the darkness that still reigned, however the sun's rays would soon take away its throne.

Once home, the siblings went to their respective rooms and fell into a coma, due to the late night they had taken.

Well, at least two of them fell asleep quickly.

Gaara had just taken a shower, although fatigue beat him to the point of having thrown himself into his bed while still in robes, his mind was quite uneasy as to sleep. The impotence of not having won caused him great discomfort, and this worsened knowing that this contest became at some point something personal. He never mixed the personal with his work.

How is it possible that there are people change their actions?, They are a nuisance. Especially, her ... But, why does this affect me so much?

 **End of the chapter.**

 **Extras:** If you want to see more explicitly how the Taiyō dance duel versus the Kazekage went, follow these links, which will show you the choreography that inspired me to describe them. The links are with spaces, to prevent the platform from deleting them, it is just a matter of removing the spaces that are inside the quotes and copying.

 **First song** , "24k Magic" by Bruno Mars: " rciE-RfNOGo"

 **Second song** , "Love never feel so good" by Michael Jackson: " J5xLYEusTz8 "

 **Third song,** "One More Time" by Daft Punk (there is no choreography, this was totally imagined by me) but I leave the version which inspired me listening to it: " F88rqgnj9kk"

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you wish, tell me what part you liked more ^^

Kisses and bye bye.


	9. Chapter 8

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 8

He was about to hang the last printed sheets. He left the dark room.

"Oh! I was up all night, but I'm done," he put a hand to his forehead, as if to clear it. The night that passed, was exciting ... I never thought that my OTP was going to have one of its first moments in that theater." He covered his cheeks, surrounding them with his hands, while he circled in the same place, his excitement made him blush. I will treasure those photos forever, it was worth having escaped and infiltrated that place, for adults, with a camera, since they were forbidden." He began to walk, hopping with joy as he moved his arms happily. "I am so happy!"

After crossing a couple of floors of that corridor, he crossed paths with his mother.

"Draco, where were you?" Asked, inquisitively Daena. "I passed through your room and your bed was barely scruffy..."

"Oh, good morning, mother, I woke up early and went to study at the library, you know I love reading," the boy answered calmly and joyfully, without any hint of remorse at the lie he told his mother. "I'm going to breakfast, I'm starving," the little blond said, not stopping in his path.

"Oh, I see, go and ask the servants to prepare whatever you want," the Taiyō leader said as she stopped her walk and looked questioningly at her progeny, he was quite happy, glowing up the place with his steps.

Temari walked from one side to the other, down the corridor that connected the bedrooms and the living room, while she clenched her fists in annoyance.

"Damn white grim! When does she plan to contact us? It's already three in the afternoon, we've waited too long ..."

Her siblings, who were sitting in the room, in silence, looked at each other calmly. It was better to shut up, than to seek a talk with a nervous and upset Temari.

"She said she would contact us in "the safest and most guarded place in the Village"... " Kankurō broke the silence, holding a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "That place would be our house ..."

Gaara listened attentively to Kankurō's meditations, although he had also reached that conclusion, but, given the time, it would appear that they had made a mistake in the conclusion.

"Maybe, she's waiting for us somewhere else," said in a moment of enlightenment, the youngest of the siblings. Then he got up from where he was sitting and went to his room, to put on the belt that had his mini sand gourd, and headed for the exit. "I think I know where she is waiting for us ..."

His siblings followed him, although they did not understand what he was talking about, they trusted him blindly.

"Don't touch my chocolates! I won them, and I will eat them, there is nothing for you, pair of losers ..." The Taiyō said, devouring bar after bar of the food she had won as a prize the night before.

Agape and Eros watched in discontent as their superior choked on those delicious chocolates and refused to let them take even one.

"You are cruel, Me, very mean," the girl said, as she pouted. "I hope you get choked and everything you eat hurts you," she said annoyed. "Right, Eros?" She ended saying while watching her partner.

But he did not answer, he had already lost interest in the sweets, and looked closely towards the window that was located behind the seat of the Taiyō.

"It seems they just understood your message and they just arrived," the blonde said indifferently, as he opened the window quickly.

A big gust of wind came in, causing the loose papers and empty chocolate wrappers in her office to flutter in the air. A strong breeze, followed by a long blanket of sand, which was centered like a mini whirlpool in the middle of the place, and then the sand siblings appeared.

The Medical Chief was chewing quietly on her mouth exaggeratedly full of chocolate, Agape was the one who applauded in astonishment at such an entrance, while reflecting a big smile on her face. Eros closed the window almost immediately.

"Amazing, do it again, again," the little girl, who sat in a corner above the table that Ann used as a desk, said with a hullabaloo.

The three sand siblings kept a serious and somewhat annoyed look on their faces.

Ann continued chewing for a few seconds with ease, then made an effort and swallowed all the chocolate that was still in her mouth.

"It took long to come, and you call yourselves ninjas?" She said in a reproachful tone. "I don't know why you have those long faces drawn, it should be me who is upset, for making me wait more than necessary. Was it so difficult to find the meaning of the message I sent you?"

"Maybe you should learn to send better encrypted messages and not just any sentence that comes to mind, silly girl," Temari replied with obvious anger.

"Oh, why such aggressiveness? You know, now thinking about it, I think it would be better not to trust you and keep my previous verdict in "that" case ..." Said the young Taiyō seriously announced as she got up from her seat and went to her window, turning her back to the newly arrivals.

Kankurō and Gaara looked reproachfully at their sister, who showed no signs of repentance for her behavior. It was Kankurō who set out to try to solve the negative environment that his impulsive and clumsy sister had caused.

"We're sorry, Ann-san, Temari is a bit imprudent in her speech, but it is not her intention, don't take it badly. Okay?" The brown-haired man said as he put his hands together in petition.

The following seconds were of total silence, there was no reaction from the Medical Chief and her pupils, while part of them Temari was reluctant, and Gaara observed a bit confused and skeptical at the chestnut's actions.

"Are you still here? Leave, I said I just changed my mind, I don't intend to risk my skin for people who don't even show the slightest bit of respect for me," said the Taiyō seriously, while with her eyes she ordered Eros to open the door so that their unpleasant visitors would disappear.

Kankurō cleared his throat, while looking at Temari with annoyance, indicating with his eyes, to look for a way to apologize, although the latter showed no interest in doing so.

It was then that Gaara just decided to take part in all this mess they had created.

"Ann-sama, forgive the behavior of Temari, she is very abrupt and reckless in her actions," he looked at the one mentioned with a slight discomfort, causing in this outrage at his words, "it's something that exceeds it, please, forget everything and we can continue with what interests us, I am sure, that you are much more mature with your actions, showing that her words do not affect you in the least."

Ann, who kept giving them her back, turned her face towards the redhead, his words had managed to call her interest.

"Okay, I'll do it, just because you say so," she said resignedly, "and partly because I have no choice, but I'll talk to you alone, the unpleasant brunette and the untrained blonde, must wait outside, those are my conditions," she pointed out.

Temari was going to protest, but Kankurō covered her mouth and dragged her out of the room. Giving rise to a clear answer to his younger brother.

"Your conditions have been accepted," said the redhead. "Shouldn't you do the same with your students? I'd prefer this to be a negotiation of only two," he remark.

Both Eros and Agape stared at the Kazekage for a few seconds, then looked at their "teacher".

"He's right, come back to me, anyway, he'll end up discovering it sooner or later, there's no difference in that," Ann said, looking subtly at her "students."

Gaara felt uneasy at these words, but decided to wait for what would happen.

Then, Eros and Agape placed themselves, one on each side of Ann, and supported one of their hands, on the shoulder of the latter, beginning to deform, to the degree of appearing a kind of watery mass, which progressively joined the body of the Medical Chief. She on the other hand, made slight abrupt movements, and settled into her seat, to avoid trying to fall through the rapid metamorphosis he was experiencing.

The Kazekage opened his eyes and between opened his lips, his surprise was high, he had never imagined that such a jutsu existed, not even by written mention.

The young Taiyō took a couple of minutes to regain her composure, those "things" had joined her, without causing a noticeable change in her appearance.

But not quite, the lucid and vivacious look she minutes before had, had disappeared and in its place was the cold and deadly look with which he had met the first time.

"It is more painful and annoying than it seems," the Taiyō murmured, more to herself, than to the Kazekage.

"Is that a more complex class of element clones?" asked directly the redhead.

"Clones? This technique is much more complex and less crude than that, it would be a complete offense to compare them, since the clone jutsu would be somewhat vulgar, next to my transmutation jutsu: Reversible Mitosis."

The young Kazekage, remained silent, never in his life had heard about that jutsu, curiosity and concern invaded him internally.

"It is a technique that allows its user to subdivide into subsequent beings, which can have a personality and character, very independent from the original. The best part of this technique, is that the level of chakra is not divided, unless the user wishes, these "by-products" can do the same as a normal person, eat, sleep, dream, feel, and compared to the clones, they do not share brain information with the original, if they prefer. Not to mention that it has the ability to alter chakra consistency to differentiate them from the original, they are practically like other human beings," explained the Medical Chief methodically while looking indifferently at her receiver.

"It means that "Agape and Eros" would become in a certain way "your children", since they come from you ..."

"Children? What a wrong way to see them," she said with an unpleasant tone, "they are byproducts of a complete being, so they lack a soul of their own, since they share the existence of the original. They are not new humans, they are products, results of a process and to which existence is given, for a specific reason. That when fulfilled, causes them to become part of the subconscious of the original being ... In short, I hope you take all this information that I am revealing as a sign of trust.

"Ah, certainly. I have other doubts about this issue, but I will ignore them for the moment, given the situation, let's focus on what deserves our attention," said the Kazekage.

"I agree, going back to the subject in question. Do you already have a plan to dethrone my mother from her position as leader? Or do you expect me to give that solution?" Asked the Taiyō directly.

"I'm afraid the second option is the right one," replied the Kazekage, "I took the liberty of investigating everything about her, you and your hyperactive younger brother, but I did not find anything that I could use against you, absolutely nothing, you are like the model citizens that every village wants to have," he said with a tone of indignation and skepticism.

"Well, you do well to distrust such perfection, although the sun only lets you see our virtues, the darkness of the night highlights our shortcomings, demonstrating the real monster that we carry inside," she put her hands to her hair, trying to fix a little that irreparable and rebellious hair that overflowed from the ponytail that had been made. "I do not say it with a literal tone, but I must warn you that it does not get far from that ..."

Gaara frowned, the double meaning with which Taiyō spoke, gave him some uneasiness.

"And you, Ann-sama. Do you have an elaborate plan for this situation?" The redhead asked directly.

"Yes, I have it," she affirmed, "but first I must warn you before, of something very important..."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"My mother knows that I will betray her, in fact, she has ordered me to."

"What?!" expressed exalted Gaara.

"I see that you are much more naive than you think, Kazekage," the Medical Chief pointed out, getting up from her seat and walking towards him. "My mother had already anticipated everything that had happened before, the outcome of that meeting, the leader of the clan that was wounded, the secret meeting that Kankurō and you had with the fat feudal lord, and even the three of you, trying to contact me in the concert last night-"

"Daena-sama had also planned for you to have a fight with me?" He asked this, interrupting her.

"No, that was not her plans, it was purely my acting, and I took a great punishment because of you that time, now that I remember it," she answered, looking towards the ceiling, as if remembering what she was talking about...

"I regret what happened that time, it was not my intention-" the Kazekage tried to explain, but was interrupted.

"It does not matter anymore, it belongs to the past," Replied the Taiyō. "Returning to the subject, my mother already knew that you would try to convince me to betray her, and decided to use that in her favor. At this moment, she knows that I am accepting your agreement, and that it is what she wants to use for the true purpose that caused all this commotion.

"Real purpose? Be more specific. What do you mean?" ordered the turquoise eyes.

"Don't be stupid Kazekage, and use a bit more of that brain that nature has given you as a human. Do you really thinks that, our leader would take so much trouble in demanding the payment of some debts, being us a disgustingly rich clan both in positions and in ninja skills?" The Taiyō said with annoyance while in a spontaneous act, took a hold of the redhead's shoulders so that they would fix and look closely to the eyes. "The real motive is in front of you, being so obvious, making it so unthinkable or improbable in your eyes."

Gaara looked at her with panic, those golden eyes that reflected coldness, sadness, anguish ... They watched him in a terrifying way, as if they were the eyes of death stalking his next victim. Her hands felt cold, like the breath that emanated directly in his face due to the extreme closeness, the discomfort invaded him, to the degree of not being able to stand it anymore.

He placed his hands on her cold hands and pulled them from his shoulders, releasing himself. This action, separated her enough.

"Tell me what is the real purpose behind all this, please," the redheaded one asked, it was his time to put his hands on the shoulders of the Taiyō, by way of pressure.

"I'll tell you, but not now, it is not the time or the place, you will have to see the "real purpose" to believe me, and that is not here with me," said the blonde, while brusquely removing the hands that imprisoned her. "We'll have to wait for the right moment for that, and that will take time..."

His siblings insisted that they should accompany him, even if it was only one of them, since they did not trust Ann-sama and everything could be a trap.

But he had already decided, he would go alone, something inside him told him to take a risk.

"At least take this parchment of fast teleportation, so we will not be worried if things around you get complicated," Temari proposed, extending the small scroll.

"Listen to Temari and take the damn scroll, seeing that I'm the one who is going to have to endure her outbursts of hysteria and worry," added the puppeteer.

Gaara sighed a little resigned, and before so much insistence took the parchment and kept it in one of his pockets.

According to the instructions that the Taiyō had given him, he had to wait on the roof of the headquarters, for her invocation to pick him up. Only that being could infiltrate him into the Taiyō clan, and take him to the place that the Medical Chief wanted to show him.

"You've grown enough Kazekage," the summoning animal said, which turned out to be Iderum, Ann's phoenix guardian. It was a giant bird that would exceed three meters in height, a hypnotizing golden color, it planed for a few seconds and then landed hard next to the redhead.

"You must be Iderum, your mistress told me a little about you," he said, not showing caution to such an enormous beast.

"I never thought I'd have to swallow a brat with blood from the Sand, what the hell did you do, so my mistress would support you? She hates you all. How is it that you have changed her mind?" Iderum asked frankly.

"I'm not obliged to answer your questions, just limit yourself to fulfilling your mistress's will," the redhead replied firmly, moving closer to the animal.

Iderum observed him with displeasure, but merely answered him.

"Then so be it," said the bird, opening its beak as much as possible and placing its head on the ground, so that the Kazekage could enter.

 _"I still believe that there could be more infiltration options, apart from this," thought the redhead as he put his feet inside that huge peak._

As soon as he was completely inside, Iderum closed his beak and swallowed him abruptly, which he did on purpose as a way of derision, to then take impulse and take flight, heading to his mistress's clan.

They arrived at the indicated place, where the Chief Medical Officer was waiting for them. Iderum who had crossed the sky to that territory in a smaller version of himself, recovered its original size, then regurgitated the character it carried.

To the astonishment of the redhead, he did not get dirty from such a place, in fact, he had barely entered the throat of the bird, when he had been placed in trance, he almost didn't remembering a thing of the trip.

Ann handed him a classic cloak worn by the clan members, so he would hide and follow her.

"Just follow me, what I want to show you is in the basement of this place, we'll most likely meet with my mother's servants, who are about fifty, if you keep your head down and hide no one will notice that you're an intruder and you will pass as one more servant, but first..." She extended an Anbu mask and bracelets in the form of an incandescent sun, "this will help hide the different magnitude of chackra that you emanate and is not common in the Taiyō."

"I'm ready, let's continue," the Kazekage ordered, finishing putting on everything he had been given.

They crossed from one corridor to another, through a hidden garden, where several children accompanied by their mothers played; They passed between a group of servants, who apparently were maids and disappeared in the later rooms. The same sequence was repeated several times, servants, more servants, one or more guards, who upon seeing Ann, bowed to her in respect and did not even fix their gaze on her companion.

"Is there still a long way to go?" asked the redhead, noticing that they had walked for more than half an hour.

"Ah, we've walked in circles to have witnesses in case I raise suspicions, so I can say that certain people saw me and I left the servant who followed me in one of those places, helping his people," the blonde answered.

They came to a common door, which looked a little damaged, opening it, they found a dirty and abandoned room. Ann began to touch the wall, as if looking for something, and found it, she pressed the indicated brick, causing the floor to split, giving rise to an enameled tunnel.

"We're about to arrive," she declared, entering first, quickly, being followed by the Kazekage.

They had walked about thirty meters in an almost dark tunnel, barely illuminated by dim electrical lights, when they found a huge shed. In which there were ninja weapons, grain in wooden crates and sacks of flour.

"This is just a distraction," the Taiyō pointed out, gesturing with her hands to follow him.

Gaara followed her alertly, the place was quite cold, too luxurious for a simple supply storage, but he changed his mind to see what Ann was showing him with emphasis.

It was a huge laboratory, where there were hundreds of parchments, test tubes, flasks with samples of indescribable things, human and animal skulls and in the end... The lights were permanently focused on huge glass tubes that seemed to contain something inside, from these came thin tubes that apparently supplied something in those huge transparent containers.

"This is my mother's true purpose," Ann argued, as she moved some buttons of that strange machine and made it illuminate the contents of all those huge tubes.

The things that were minutes ago inert, began to move abruptly, they were humans, which floated in a watery medium and were maintained by probes protruding from their mouths and spines.

Gaara's eyes widened, horror seized him, not because it was the first time he had seen this kind of monstrosity before his eyes, but to see the two individuals inside those huge tubes in front of him.

"Kazekage, I introduce you to the new Kankurō and Gaara, products of biotechnology and genetic transmutation," expressed the young Taiyō seriously, while he gave a light blow with her hands to the tubes that kept the clones of the sand brothers.

These beings awoke to the noise emitted and began to move abruptly, they did not have their eyes open, but they were exact copies of their originals. And they were not the only ones, behind and around these there were other tubes with more clones, copies of the most influential leaders in the Wind country.

"Anngelius... what's this? How... is it possible that I ... be there inside?" He emitted still impacted by what his eyes saw, resting one of his hands on the tube that contained his clone.

Ann just watched the scene in silence, the truth is that even she did not understand what her mother thought. She felt the footsteps of someone in the distance.

"A group of people are approaching in this direction, we don't have time, we must leave..."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I hope you were intrigued by the chapter 7u7 And I'm sorry if the chapter came out short, I did not have much time. Well, I wait for your comments.


	10. Chapter 9

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 9

He walked cautiously, the silence of the night making his steps a little audible.

He arrived at the place, using a transmigration technique, crossing the wall and appearing in a dark place where there were only a couple of torches, and around him eleven individuals, sitting in an open circle, covered from end to end, being it barely recognizable that they were human.

"You're late," one of the unknown figures in the room, located in the center, reproachfully said, "I was about to send for you."

"I apologize for the delay, the planned took more time than expected, but I managed to meet the target, we agreed a congregation," replied the newcomer, bending on his knees in the middle of them; He also wore a full-body tunic, leaving only the lower part of his face visible.

"So, you mean they fell for the trap?" Objected another of the beings in the room, his voice a thick and slow tone, hinted that it was an old man.

"Not entirely, but the first steps are already taken, it will only be hard to convince them with a bit of talk and tears, they are so idealistic and naive that it will be enough," said the character that was on its knees.

"But can you do it?" Inquired another of the beings with distrust. "We can not risk it, the best thing is that you act with the help of someone else and ..."

"It will not be necessary, it will be enough with me," said the character in the tunic with his face uncovered. "We should not get more accomplices in this, if we do, we will leave many loose nails once we try to erase what will happen, there is no risk if I act in solitude, in fact, our victims will see it more convincingly."

The characters around her began to murmur, there were many who disagreed and in favor. It was the center being, the one who had spoken first, who spoke again.

"We'll leave it in your hands, again, I know you will not fail. You already know where to take the papers that you will present in your favor. We will meet in the afternoon, in the same place where we keep our joker. You can go."

The others present remained silent, a decision had already been made.

The character in the tunic nodded after hearing her new mandate, stood and walked in the same direction from which she had emerged. She was about to cross the wall when the leader of the strangers spoke again.

"Wait. I know you already know it, but don't think of acting on your own, modifying the plan to your rebellious act. The slightest mistake can lead to failure, and the first affected will be your brother and I, remember that... Ann."

The character in the tunic, who was turning her back on everyone present, takes off the hood that covered her head, letting her long dark golden hair escape her prison. She turned her face aside and gave a gloomy smile to her leader. Her eyes reflected the soul of someone who seemed to have lost her sanity long ago.

"I know ..." Her voice rang with a demented tone, "but... have faith in me. I assure you that for the next full moon, we will drink the blood of the Sand Clan, in our celebration glasses, and we will dissect their inert bodies as trophies. But, I appreciate your reminder... mother."

The young Taiyō covered her head again and continued on her way, crossing the wall that hid them from the outside world.

Daena put a hand to her head, in acceptance, as she smiled with the gentleness of a lady. You could tell she was proud of the monster she had created and had as a firstborn.

Iderum was invoked, with a gesture from his mistress, he understood what he should do.

He opened his beak as much as possible, inviting the redheaded one to hide in it.

"I knew they would come, but I did not think it would be so fast, Kazekage move," the Taiyō said seriously. Seeing that he was slow to act, she pulled him by the arm and pushed him into the mouth of the beast, which swallowed him roughly. "Iderum, minimize yourself and keep the Kazekage conscious, it is necessary that he listens to everything that will happen here, lend him your senses," she ordered.

Gaara came out of the commotion that had flooded him, he was conscious floating in a space of luminous color, surrounded by nothingness.

"What's going on? Where I am?" Asked the redheaded one.

"You are in the vortex of space/time that is inside me, do not worry, I won't eat you, but I must warn you not to think about anything. Close your eyes and I'll give you the chance to see what's happening now, on the outside, Daena and her entourage of scientists just arrived and are talking to my mistress," said Iderum, who appeared at his side in the borrowed form of the younger brother of the Medical Chief.

The redhead looked perplexed at the entity that appeared next to him, and closed his eyes, as he had been indicated.

He could see Daena-san talking to her subordinates, while giving them directions by looking at the huge tubes. He had the view of the beast, which was perched on the shoulder of its owner.

"I just controlled their basic functions, everything is in order," said the young Taiyō.

"Ah, I've noticed. You arrived early today, tell me what happened," Daena said directly.

Ann remained silent for a few seconds. Then she took out a tiny bottle from one of her pockets, in which you could see three hairs of different colors.

"They fell into the trap, as we had anticipated, although they have not shown it, they are desperate in this situation. I have agreed to meet with them, again, at night, they have ordered me to go to their home, inside the headquarters. While I have been with them, I have been able to appreciate that there are many physical differences between the originals and our clones. I took the opportunity and took a new sample of their DNA. With this we can correct the mistakes." She tossed the small vial to one of the many assistant scientists there.

"Well, I don't understand these things anymore, I left it a long time ago, do what you see fit, make sure you don't make mistakes," the mother said, while looking seriously at the huge tubes and their contents. "On the other hand, you know what you have to do when you go into the Kazekage's headquarters.

Ann nodded slightly.

"Ah, I know. Now I retire, I must prepare myself for what I will do tonight. With your permission, mother."

She started to walk towards the exit.

"Wait, I don't have anything else to do here either," the Taiyō leader objected, "besides, I have to tell you something in private."

Her daughter stopped, waiting for her to reach her.

They walked in silence, they left the place, they crossed the tunnel, reappearing in that uninhabited room, they left there and they stopped in the enormous garden that united that building with the others; the children and their mothers were gone, because the sun was already hiding. In the sky, you could see a reddish mantle and in the air you could feel the coldness that the night would bring, in a couple of hours.

"I hate the sky at this time, it's like feeling those of the sand, above us. It's as if that damned Rasa were still alive, watching us from the sky," Daena said, focusing her annoyed gaze upward.

Anngelius looked at her in silence, the words of her mother seemed indifferent to her.

"If it bothers you so much, when we capture his children, we can eliminate them at this time, so you can feel that he is watching with pain as we annihilate his legacy, she replied calmly, as she plucked a beautiful red rose from those in the garden, she placed it in one hand and extended it to her superior.

"Your lack of sensitivity and extreme cruelty makes me feel that I did not completely fail, with you." She smiled with malice, while closing her eyes, "So I entrust you with that work, you will be the one who frees our Clan from the yoke of oppression with which we have lived since those of the Sand came to our territory," she opened her eyes and approached the rose offered by her daughter, placing her hands on top of it. "Ann, when the day comes and we have "ours" in their leadership positions, I want you to take care of the originals."

Ann opened her eyes in surprise, although she knew she would have to face them, she thought that whoever would end the Kazekage clan would be her mother.

"Mother, I thought you would want to do that. Why do you entrust it to me? I…"

"It's something that includes us both, remember that this is not just a rebellion, it's revenge, "our revenge."" She took her hands and pressed them against her own, causing the beautiful flower to be crushed. "I want you to make them suffer, to clamor for their lives, to torture them, to the extent that they curse being born under that lineage, and to beg for you to end their misery by not bearing the pain that you have to inflict on them," She shook with rage her daughter's hands, causing her to completely destroy the rose and begin to fall in pieces on the floor. "And I want you to bring me the heads of the three children of the Fourth, stuck in a stake... reflecting in their last expressions the pain and the despair," her smile went from malice to madness, transforming her face into that of a grotesque being.

"If that's what Mother wants, I'll fulfill it as she asks," the young Taiyō answered serenely as she took her hands away from her mother's hands and wiped away the remains of the unhappy rose she had destroyed. "Now, I must go to my room, there are some things that I have pending before meeting again with the Kazekage."

The Chief Medical Officer began to walk, leaving her insane mother to fantasize about her madness, in that beautiful garden.

Once in the privacy of her room, she took Iderum from her shoulder with her hands, and placed him in front of her.

"Kazekage, we'll see each other on the roof of your headquarters, after ten o'clock, I guess until then you'll have time to explain everything you saw and heard, to your siblings, Iderum, take him away from here." He nodded earnestly, while she opened the window and let her beast fly.

"Damn witch, I knew she could not be trusted, I always knew she was hiding some dementia behind that face," Kankurō said angrily, crossing his arms and fixing his eyes on the ground, totally worried.

"Wouldn't it be better, now that we have that information, to go to that place and destroy everything? We would have high chances of winning, without mentioning that we have a reason to do so," suggested Temari, while with a cloth, she gave her routine clean to her beloved fan.

Gaara had his eyes focused on a void, in the morning, he had not even the slightest suspicion of what was hidden inside his Village. At times, he had the memories of seeing his clone and those of his older siblings, there, inert in the darkness awaiting their awakening.

"Gaara, are you listening to me?"

The insistent voice of his sister brought him back to reality.

"If we do that, we will have many casualties of civilians, not to mention that at this time we are full of visitors from other villages, due to trade and tourism; I don't want to have to answered for a noble relative of the Feudal Lord who died for the negligence of our actions. Even if we attack them by surprise, they would surely respond effectively in counterattack. We could destroy the village in a matter of minutes..." The redhead replied to Temari's preposterous suggestion.

"And what are we supposed to do then? I refuse to stand by with my arms crossed, waiting for the day someone will come to behead us," the blonde said angrily.

Gaara got up from the couch where he was sitting and went silently to the exit of his residence, leaving behind his worried siblings.

A few minutes passed after he reached the roof. Iderum appeared being mounted by its owner, she jumped from the air, falling firmly and standing, a few meters from the redhead. Iderum descended sharply, then vanished and returned to the tattoo on his mistress's hand.

"Take me to a place where we can have privacy, I've been thinking the last details of our counterattack, there's a lot to explain, so it's best to start right away..."

"Before that, I want to ask you some things, I'm not sure we can trust you, blindly, not now..." the Kazekage said while looking at her with his inquisitive gaze that characterized him.

Ann watched him with the same face.

Silence reigned for a few long seconds.

"I know that the information obtained today exceeds what you had expected, but it is what's happening at the moment, we don't have time for doubts, or ..."

"That's what worries me, Ann-sama!" Replied the redhead with the greatest seriousness expressed in his voice. "How do I know we can trust you? How do I know that this is not another trap? Do you really mean to choose to betray your clan, joining the clan to which you previously manifested your hatred? Why do they hate us so much? How the hell did you get those hair samples from us? Not even I, having the sensory ability more advanced than my siblings, could notice the moment in which you stole those hairs from us." He clenched his fists, he felt that the desperation wanted to invade him and he had to control himself.

The young Taiyō looked down at him, although her face was almost expressionless, her eyes became distressed.

"It's true Kazekage, I hate you all. I hate your father and I hate you even though I know you are not to blame for your parent's mistakes. Your family destroyed mine, and you went unpunished for it. Being honest, just seeing your face fixedly, makes the anger and hate accumulate more in me, to the degree of wanting to grab you and destroy your face on the floor, to kill you, and I see your father's reflection in you. I understand that you were also mistreated by him, but that does not matter to me... I do not care to know your history, I do not feel the slightest bit of compassion. Empathy ceased to exist in me, the day I lost one of the beings I loved... it was a loss that could have been avoided, but no, the Fourth Kazekage decided that it was something inevitable..." She clasped her hands in the form of fist due to the pain that caused her to have to talk about "that subject" that tormented her, and that had become noticeable in the tone of her voice.

"And still you want us to trust you? After all the hatred you keep, it would be illogical for you to support us," said the young Kazekage.

"The clones will not be ready to assume their role in all this, if they do not have the memories of the original person to whom they copy," express the Taiyō seriously, "and that is a huge barrier to biotechnology today, it is impossible. But... there is another method to pass the personality and memories from one individual to another, it is a technique developed by my Clan that was practiced in ancient times... the ritual is efficient if it is fulfilled to detail, the one that fulfils it will have at their disposal not only some clones with memories of others, but also faithful slaves who will obey them until death. But all this has a price, the ritual demands the sacrifice of a nobleman of the main branch of the clan, only the soul of a noble is a good payment for the God who grants such unrealism. Currently, there are only three noble people who serve as a sacrifice for this. My mother, my brother and me. And guess who they chose ..."

"Your mother is a monster..." Expressed the redhead, after catching on to what she insinuated.

"I don't want to die. Not yet. I made a promise that I would never leave alone the only being I still love. And this forces me to have to swallow my pride and have to ally myself with the people I hate the most in this life. I don't intend to break my promise, even if I have to betray or even kill my mother," she closed her eyes, before they overflow with tears.

The Kazekage approached her, his serious gaze had disappeared and a slight sorrow now flooded him, with a mixture of decision.

"I have decided to trust your help, I can feel that you still hide many things, but ... I do not judge you, we all have something we want to hide or forget. I am not aware of what my father had to do to have won such hatred from your family, and even less if it is something that can be remedied. But today I need your help, just as you need mine. Let's pact our alliance, together we will destroy Daena-san and avoid your sacrifice. If then you want to confront me and try to delete me from existence out of revenge for the suffering that my family caused to yours, I am willing to assume the duel, but I must warn you that I will not let you defeat me, since I also have reasons why to live. I can understand the love you feel for your younger brother, since I also have two siblings, and although they are a couple of idiots who exasperate my day to day, I can not imagine my life without them. Heavens, it's the first time I say out loud that I love them ..."

He extended his right hand, hoping for a stretched one in order to close his provisional alliance. His face showed great security and determination, and a slight grimace flooded his lips.

The face of the Taiyō showed confusion, all the sorrow that went beyond it had disappeared just by listening to the words that the redhead had dedicated to her. How was it possible that someone had that power of conviction? Who was this subject? Why did his words sound so alive? A strange sensation flooded her, she was sure that she had felt it before. But with whom? Why couldn't he remember it?

"Why do you extend your hand? I don't understand ..." Expressed the blonde, while looking with surprise at that gesture.

"I want as to make a pact out of our verbal alliance, a shake of hands would be the suitable thing," the redheaded one explained.

"I see... Would it be like this?" She extended her right hand a little insecure, she had never done that kind of thing.

"Yes, then we have a deal." He grabbed her hand and held it firmly with his.

She tensed her hand and returned the squeeze. For some reason, the confidence that characterized her returned to her.

"Your hands are bony and somewhat cold, although soft," said with total freedom, Ann.

"Ah, I have that problem with my hands, I have trouble keeping them at a good temperature. Yours are quite warm and somewhat small," the redhead pointed out.

Only a few seconds, more was enough for both of them to agree that their alliance had been their best choice.

"Then, we can continue in the place where the others are, we have much to do and little time for it," expressed the Taiyō.

"Ah. But I'll have to take you in a somewhat annoying way for you. With your permission.

He grabbed her arm, dragging her while he was carrying out the technique of transporting sand, and that's the only way they would get there quickly to the several floors below, where the residence of the sand siblings was located.

It was about to dawn, the first lights of the sun could be seen in the distance.

The tide was high, causing the waves to land hard and putting the shore of the beach in an almost cold environment.

Ann was standing on one of the mini solid rock boulders, which afforded a good view of the beach and the sea. She looked at the horizon, as if waiting anxiously for the first rays of the sun on land.

"Are you sure that acting as a double spy is the best?" Asked Iderum, who was at her side with a bird-in-nest pose, accompanying her to such a rare habit that only she had.

"I do not know. But if I manage to survive until after the next full moon, I can surely live and fulfill my promise ..." Answered calmly, Ann.

Iderum looked at her with empathy, he felt that something in her mistress had changed. She was quite calm, so as not to be subdivided in those other two beings that helped her share her bad emotions and uneasiness.

"I hope that brat, the Kazekage, has not evangelized you to the point of becoming one of his faithful subjects," the beast announced with concern.

His young mistress fixed her gaze on him. And placed one of her hands on his head.

"Don't say nonsense Iderum, this is the peace and calm that you feel before the storm. The best thing is to enjoy it, you never know if it will be our last moments together. Also, if the opportunity presents itself, I will kill the Kazekage..."

End of chapter.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

Hello! What did you think? Oh, even I'm nerves with what will proceed. xD

Comment anything, I'd like to know what your favorite moments of this chapters are.

A big kiss.


	11. Chapter 10

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 10.

"Sister, I'm glad you're spending your only day off with me, I'm really very happy," the little boy said, embracing Ann.

They were walking, along the commercial street of the Village. There were many stalls that offered take-out meals and snacks.

"I am also happy," she responded to the hubbub of her minor. "Draco-chan Do you want to eat a cotton candy?" She asked with a smile on her lips, stopping just in front of the store that offered that product.

"Hmm, I do," he answered enthusiastically. "I want a giant one, a very, very, very big, that seems to touch the sky," he exclaimed while making an exaggerated expression with his hands.

Ann could not help but let out a small laugh at the request of her beloved younger brother.

"Okay, I'll buy you a big one, though I doubt it'll ever touch the sky." The young Taiyō entered the line, waiting for her turn to be treated at the store.

"Great, thanks onee-chan!" Replied the boy, while still hugging his sister's waist.

The people around could not help but stare at them, it was very strange to see the Taiyō buying and living outside the domains of their clan, not to mention that they attracted attention because of their golden appearances.

After many minutes of waiting, it was their turn.

"Good morning, children of the sun How many cottons will you want to take?" The salesman said in a friendly tone.

"Old man, I want a cotton candy, so big that it gets to touch the sky," the youngest impatiently ordered.

The seller cleared his throat, he knew he could not fulfill that request.

"Draco, don't be so impolite. Father would not have liked that you were like this," Ann said, scolding him. "Good sir, excuse my brother, he is quite impatient," she added, addressing the merchant. "Please, give us two cotton candy balls, extra large.

"Ah... don't worry... here it is, thank you for your purchase, young lady, come back soon," said the vendor, a bit embarrassed.

Ann received both cottons and walked out of the store, her brother wrapped around her waist like a Koala.

They began to walk at a slow pace, separately.

"Onee-san, you're bad. Why did you scold me in front of the mob?" Questioned the child, looking pouty and removing one of the cottons from his hands.

"Because you need it, Draco," she pointed out. "Mother pampers you too much, and I can appreciate that she has not taught you manners; You can not talk to your elders as you wish. You must learn to know how to live in society. Not everyone is your servant, nor do they have the duty to endure your bad manners ..."

"You say that, but when I see you talking to your students, you verbally attack them," Draco grumbled, as he took a big bite of his candy.

"That is very different, I am your superior and the only way that those clumsy ones understand me and react well to what I order, is shouting at them," explained the Taiyō.

"What about Gaara-nii? You always talk to him in a dry and unpleasant way, though he is your superior, if I understand correctly..."

Ann stopped short, it seems that her brother's words had affected her.

"That is a separate and very different topic."

The boy noticed the inertia of his sister and also stopped, looked at her with curiosity, his face had changed from a calm expression to one of much discomfort.

"Did I say something wrong, sister?" He asked this worried, noticing her reaction.

"Draco ... I don't want you to refer back to the Kazekage as if he were your older brother. Your only older sister is me, and nobody else! Answered seriously, Ann, as she approached Draco and hugged him spontaneously.

"You should not be jealous of Gaara-sama, Onee..." he said as he returned the hug. "I like him very much, but I love you more than anyone ..."

Those words made Ann's annoyed look disappear.

"I'm glad to hear that."

They separated and started walking again.

Draco had finished his candy in a short time, while Ann had barely taken a bite of hers.

"Here, I'm already full," she offered her cotton candy.

The blond boy hesitated a few seconds, he did not want to take the candy from his sister, but he could not resist the desire to continue eating his favorite food.

"If you don't want it, I'm going to throw it away..." "No, do not do that, I want it, I'll eat it, give it to me!" Exclaimed the little boy at the threat of his sister.

He took the cotton and began to eat it with enthusiasm.

Anngelius sketched a small grimace of acceptance, while looking at him sideways.

"But I keep insisting that Gaara-sama and you would be a perfect couple," Draco pointed directly as he continued to gobble up his precious candy.

"Go back and say silly things like that and you're going to have good punches raining on you, Draco," Ann warned.

"But, it's not silly sister, my intuition as a younger brother tells me," said the Taiyō in his defense. "When Gaara-sama sees you, it's as if he wanted to devour you with his eyes ..." He put on a mischievous face, then nudged eloquently, "I'm quite sure that you call his attention and ... "

A blow to his head interrupted him, it came so unexpectedly that he almost fell to the ground.

"Why are you hitting me sister? I hate you, I hate you," Draco said as he began to sob in an exaggerated way and began to hit lightly on his older sister's arm like a tantrum.

"I warned you to stop talking about that unpleasant redhead, I comply with what I say," she said this without remorse, while walking.

"Hum... you can hit me all you want, but I'm not going to stop shipping you," the little blond said firmly. "You will always be my OTP, even if you hate each other..."

"Ship you? OTP? Heavens, what kind of words do the youngsters of today use, thinking of love and other sappy things," said the Taiyō, letting out a sigh of resignation. "They don't even know how to clean their snot and they are already thinking about things for the elders, they are foolish ..."

"Well, I just wish that someone, someday, loves and cares for you in the same way I wish," said in a more subtle tone, Draco, as he lowered his eyes a bit embarrassed.

Anngelius looked at him again in an intrigued way when she heard that last part.

"We do not all have the same desires and dreams, Draco," she explain gently. "Your intention may be the most noble, but I, your onee-san, don't need the love and attention of anyone other than yours. I am not a helpless princess who needs a prince to rescue her. So can I count on you, my dear brother?"

The boy looked at her in amazement, without a doubt making him happy, knowing that his sister would always see him as his priority, as well as he did her.

"Uh, always count on me, sister."

And so, the two continued talking while they lost themselves in the middle of the crowd of villagers.

The Kazekage, was still in his office, and it was not long before he finished all the paperwork that was pending, his table clock, marked a quarter of an hour before eight o'clock at night.

Then two figures entered without knocking on the door.

"I told you, Gaara is still here," the brunette said firmly as he sat on the sofa in the place.

"Now, don't be too proud to have guessed right this time," Temari said as she walked straight to the table where the youngest of her brothers worked.

Gaara looked at them sideways, but continued to concentrate on his own things.

"Gaara, did you already receive the confirmations we were waiting for?" Asked his blonde sister as she rested one of her arms on his desk.

"Ah, it was not easy to convince everyone, but everyone confirmed their presence, even the Daimio. And you, where have you been lost at all day?" He asked this with interest.

Both Kankurō and Temari looked at each other in complicity, at the words of their youngest. They smiled at the same time.

"I feel that you are excluding me from something," said the redhead when noticing that those two looked suspicious.

"We took advantage of the good day to go training outside the Village. We practiced our combined attack. In case we need to use it in what will happen here in a few days," said Temari.

"I see..." The Kazekage finished, refocusing his eyes on the papers he was reviewing.

And since that day that they had agreed to an alliance of the Sand siblings with the Chief Medic. Both Gaara and the others returned to their common activities so as not to provoke suspicion and wait with patience the day that indicated when they would carry out the plan they had devised to dethrone the current leader of the Taiyō Clan.

Ann, as a double agent, had put the Sand's people up to date on the intentions of her mother, wanting to replace all the most important leaders of the Wind Country with her clones. And it is that she did not aim only to control a country, her ambition had reached beyond what her eyes could see. Her main goal was to control the current Jinchuriki of the bijus, wanting to take advantage of the great friendship that Konoha and Suna had. And it's because, who would distrust the dear and noble 5th Kazekage? She would only need a few samples of the genes of the famous Uzumaki Naruto, to create a clone in his likeness, and the other Kages why not, it would be a waste not to take advantage of it. And there was nothing easier and more practical for some geniuses, that instead of defeating someone, they would replace then with a similar beings that would obey them fervently.

But for that, they needed to have control of their Village first. Daena-san had planned to gather all the leaders with the false excuse of asking for forgiveness for the way she had asked to be paid the debts. Sh knew that this would not be enough to get everyone to congregate on the same day, so she would use Ann as a "traitor" giving her false evidence that could impute her to the degree of losing her position. No leader would miss the opportunity of wanting to see the leader of the Taiyō be accused of treason in public. Whoever, that would never happen.

It was two unsettling weeks of waiting, but the day had come, the beginning of the full moon would begin that night.

As planned, the most important leaders of the Village and the feudal lord himself gathered at the banquet that Daena-sama had offered as an "apology" for what had happened in the past.

It was a lunch that lasted until late afternoon. All the guests seemed to enjoy the moment ingenuously.

"One moment, please, I would like to say a few words before ending this pleasant meeting," Daena began, while extending her glass and making it sound with a spoon in order to attract attention.

Everyone present remained silent, giving way to the hostess speaking.

"I am certainly very grateful that all the guests have been able to give us the honor of their presence, today in my humble Clan, to iron out our differences and reach an agreement..."

All the guests applauded by way of acceptance.

"Thank you, thank you, but I still have not finished speaking, I wanted to thank everyone here, individually," she pointed this out with great confidence and jubilation in her voice. "Thanks for the support, Niashi-san, Kazekage-san ..."

She went on naming all those present, without forgetting any. When she finally finished, she extended her glass and asked everyone to imitate her. The servants appeared and filled the guests' cups.

"And now, let's give it for new beginning, a new era for our Village!" The leader exclaimed, then drank the contents of her glass.

"For Our village! For our village! For our village..."

Everyone exclaimed the same thing in unison and then drank the contents of their glasses.

"Well, I think with this we terminate this banquet, again, thank you for your assistance," said Daena again, as she rose from her place, implying that she was leaving.

"Not so fast, Daena-san," the Feudal Lord said firmly, as he took out some papers from his place. "I enjoyed your banquet very much, but I am afraid that this new era our village will begin, be carried out without you ... I have come to dismiss you from your position, and to arrest you for attempted treason against our country..."

All the other guests could not hide their happiness at such words coming from the Daimyo.

Daena made a face of despair, she could not believe what was happening.

"Kazekage, please, you can start with your arrest, capturing the traitor," ordered Niashi-sama.

Gaara got up from the place where he was sitting with his siblings and started invoking the sand in the direction of the Taiyō leader.

It was a matter of seconds before she was trapped and wrapped in the Kazekage's sand, her children, who were sitting around her, were paralyzed with amazement.

"Ann! How could you betray me?" Daena began to scream insanely, as she struggled with the sand that imprisoned her.

Ann on her part, got up and took her brother, separating him and putting him a few meters away from where they were.

"Onee-san, what's happening? Why is Gaara-sama attacking Mother? I don't understand... What is happening?" Draco began to speak desperately, as he struggled with his sister to free him.

But Ann hit him on the side of his neck, causing him to faint, she certainly did not want her brother to witness such a moment.

"Ann! Ann! Ann!" Daena kept screaming, the Kazekage's sand was about to cover her mouth to prevent her from talking.

The other clan leaders watched with satisfaction as they watched their equal, who had cause them so much trouble, be humiliated. But the Daimyo looked a little distressed at such a scene.

"Ann..." Said Daena with her last breath, before being covered by it completely, "Good job ... Now it's your turn," she smiled with malice, before getting completely buried.

It was then that Anngelius put her fainted brother on the floor and jumped to the middle of the huge table where all the leaders were gathered.

She began to position her hands at the speed of lightning.

"Ninja Art, heaven jutsu : disconnection of minds."

A kind of blizzard spread throughout the room, causing everyone present to fall precipitously to the ground.

" _What is this? I can not feel my body, but I am conscious," thought Niashi-san when he saw how those around him were in the same situation as him._

Even Kazekage himself was vanished into the ground, resulting in the technique that imprisoned Daena-sama vanishing, leaving her free in a matter of seconds.

She began to laugh loudly, as she began to walk at a slow pace towards her immobile guests.

"Did you really think I would fall into his trap?" She approached the feudal Lord and pulled him from the little hair he had in his head, to force him to see her in the eyes. You were all very naive in believing that my own daughter would betray me and support you in your plans against me.

The extensive Daimio, could not utter a word due to paralysis but his eyes showed great fear.

"Oh, Niashi-san, I'll give you a quick and painless death, you don't need to be afraid," Daena went on, letting go of him and letting his head fall abruptly to the floor. "But unfortunately, others will not run with your same luck ..."

Ann got off the table and started walking towards the exit.

"Where are you going Anngelius? You still have something pending to do here. Have you forgotten already?"

The mentioned one stopped and redirected her steps towards where the sand siblings. She pulled out the huge, golden sword that hid behind her back and fixed it on the youngest of the siblings.

"Leave the best for last, why don't you start with this nasty brown head?" The Taiyō leader said, while raising Kankurō's arms and throwing him aside.

Ann lowered her sword and placed it in an attack position, in the direction of Kankurō, he had his eyes open and she could not help but notice that he was staring at her, he seemed to smile at her with sadness.

"Well, what are you waiting for to start?"

Ann began to move her sword, only a single attack would be enough to finish him off.

" _I'm sorry you had to see me like this, Kankurō-san," the young Taiyō said in her mind._

Lacking a few inches to reach her target, she changed the direction of her sword's blade, aiming it at her mother.

She reacted and it wasn't difficult to avoid the sword.

She was going to claim the reason for her change of attack, when she saw that Ann was struggling with the huge fan that the blonde older sister of the sand carried, to which she had turned her back in a huge oversight.

"But how? Nobody can get rid of this technique, let alone in such a quick way," exclaimed, between worried and annoyed, the older Taiyō.

Temari remained silent, a smile not her own, flooded her face, beneath her, a huge and long shadow was given space and extended to disappear in one of the pillars of the place.

"You promised me they would not hurt her, keep what you promised, you damned undomesticated blonde," Anngelius said angrily, holding her sword tightly, forcing Temari to back away. "Or I'll take my revenge on your foreign friend you brought..."

"I apologize, but it was necessary, we had not anticipated that they would try to attack Kankurō first, the target was supposed to be me," the Kazekage articulated, as he slowly got up off the ground like the others present.

Daena panicked, she began to retreat with nervousness, she could not understand how it was that everyone had come out of the trance so quickly. Unless…"

"I'm sorry, mother, but I've decided the path to follow, unfortunately, you're not in it ..."

Anngelius released her sword and began to walk in the direction where her beloved younger brother was passed out.

End of the chapter.


	12. Chapter 11

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 11

Imprisoned against the wall of the place, Daena did not even attempt a counterattack, there were more than 20 people in that place, all against her.

A dark shadow, under her feet, prevented her from even moving an inch. She had fallen for someone's unknown technique.

"How troublesome, I was supposed to come to fix the pending issues for the next chunin exams, and ended up being involved in the arrest of a pretty old woman, leader of I do not know what ... The sixth could have told me something about it before, tsk ..." Expressed Shikamaru Nara, a ninja from the allied country of Konoha, leaving the pillar in which he had hidden, and walked in the direction of Temari, stopping at her side.

"Stop complaining, you look like a cantankerous old man," said Temari, with a somewhat confused expression on her face.

The Daimyo was helped to get up, once reincorporated, he began to proclaim.

"Daemonakuma-san, for all the evidence I have against you, emphasizing in the treason and attempted murder towards me and everyone here, I sentence you to prison, the court of elders will discuss your case to establish an amount of years.

The leader Taiyō began to struggle against the paralysis that imprisoned her.

"You are all wrong, I was also used here," she said with anxiety, in a vain attempt to save herself from the situation. All this was a plan from Anngelius, I was hypnotized by her labia, it is she who wanted to kill them, not me ..."

Everyone present looked on with indignation, as the older Taiyō fell lower and lower with her words.

"Don't you know pride?" Gaara asked as he began to seal her with one of his sand jutsu. "What kind of mother would put herself before her children, in order to be saved? Daena-san, you are a repudiate being ..."

"But I'm not lying!" Daena defended herself. "Ann planned almost everything, she was the one who created the clones, without them this plan would never have worked ..."

"Enough! I myself have witnessed her dementia and hatred towards my clan, nothing she says can rid her of the grim future that awaits her in prison," the Kazekage pointed out, sealing her completely, without first appreciating the face of hatred that the arrested woman dedicated to him before disappearing in the sand.

Silence flooded the room for a few seconds.

"Kankurō and the other leaders, go to the place that I have indicated, it's in the building opposite, and destroy that laboratory along with the aberrations that are there, ensure that there is not even ash left," said the redhead, as he walked to the exit followed by the Daimio and his servants.

But before, he stopped in front of Ann, who had carried her unconscious brother on her back.

"I appreciate your cooperation, but for the time being it will be better for you and your brother to remain in hiding," he pointed out. "Shikamaru and Temari will escort you to a safe place, as we had planned."

"Oh, I understood it the first time you had told me, I'm not stupid," replied with her typical bad way, the young blonde. Her face showed some anxiety and sadness.

Gaara did not answer her and proceeded on his way, plus a hint of doubt was sown in his mind, he felt that something was still hidden.

Finally out of the place, the Kazekage and the Daimio caught the attention of the clan's inhabitants, the evening sun began to flood the sky with a reddish color.

All the Taiyō gathered with concern around them, and many had felt distressed, when they saw the dignified servants of the noble palace running away desperately minutes before.

"Inhabitants of this clan, we come to inform you that your leader, Daena-san, has been arrested, for treason and attempted murder before our greatest leader, the honorable Daimio-sama," Gaara said firmly.

The inhabitants began to murmur among themselves, it was evident that panic and fear wanted to invade them.

"And the prince and princess?"

" What will happen to Anngelius-sama and Draco-sama?"

"How is it possible that this happened? Do they at least have strong evidence that Daena-sama is a traitor?"

"Our leader would never do that! This must be an error!"

The murmurs turned into protests.

The Feudal Lord tried to speak but was not given a chance. It was the Kazekage's strict cry that calmed the assembled crowd.

"Silence! Nagashi-san will explain what will happen."

The Taiyō kept their doubts and lent themselves to listen, but not because they were calm, but for fear of listening to the Kazekage.

Then the Daimio proceeded to speak.

Ann was walking slowly through one of the corridors of the headquarters, her back still carrying her beloved brother, who showed no signs of waking up.

"Where exactly are we going?" Asked the Taiyō, somewhat annoyed, as she paused to observe the people guarding her.

"We're about to arrive, keep walking white grimy," Temari replied mischievously, while pushing her on one shoulder to continue the journey. "Walk..."

Ann frowned as she whispered something between her teeth, resuming her walk.

"Oí Temari, you should not treat the nobles of your village like that. She's a princess or something, is she not?" Shikamaru pointed out when he saw how he treated the Taiyō.

"Shut up! I have not treated her badly, besides, she is not the stereotype of sweet princess with which there is to endure and be gentle," said the oldest of the Sand, twisting her mouth to the side in disagreement.

"As you say," he said with resignation. "I do not intend to seek an argument, women never want to lose when it comes to being right ..."

"Are you saying that I'm a stubborn troublemaker?" Asked Temari annoyed to hear what the Nara said.

"I did not say that, you're saying it, Temari," Shikamaru recalled as he put a hand to the nape of his neck, a little annoyed.

"So you're saying I'm insulting myself?" Said the blonde with the pigtails reproachfully, while looking furiously at the Nara.

"Hey, hey, calm down... I do not know why you are exasperating yourself so much," the dark haired man said a bit overwhelmed.

"You missed by just a bit, saying I'm a hysteric," Temari said annoyed as she turned her face to the side.

"Damn, how troublesome this all has become, I think I should have kept quiet," the Nara said, turning around the same way as Temari, but to the opposite side.

Ann observed them out of the corner of her eye, their strange discussion had caught her attention and at the same time annoyed, they were talking so loud, she had the worry that they could wake her brother up.

A long journey happened, until finally they reached their final destination. It was a kind of room, where there were some seats and sofas, it would have passed as a living room for visitors had it not been for the bars that surrounded it at the entrance.

"What is this supposed to be?" Asked discouraged, Ann. "It looks like a luxury cell-"

"It's a cell for political prisoners, no doubt a good place for people like you," Temari pointed out. "Here you will be "kept" until the council and the Feudal Lord decide what to do with you-"

"Wasn't your mission supposed to make me the new leader of my clan? Or was that a lie for me to support you?" Asked with suspicion the Taiyō, while she was limited to observe the bars of the place.

"I don't have time to answer your doubts, enter already and wait for the verdict that the superiors will give," ordered Temari, raising her hands to try to push her from behind, along with her faded brother.

But she moved by reflex, quickly to the side.

"Don't you dare put your filthy hands on Draco, you hysterical blonde," Ann warned coldly in both her voice and her gaze.

"Look brat, I'm not here to tolerate you, you'll enter that place, even if it's by blows," Temari pulled the fan from her back with the clear intention of using it.

"Please, don't tell me you're going to fight this noble, Temari," said with a disappointing tone, Shikamaru as he raised a hand to his head.

"And why not? Gaara ordered me to keep her in this place, but he did not say anything forbidding me to hit her, I want to have fun for a while ..."

Temari smiled with confidence, she was going to extend her fan, when she heard a noise coming from the Taiyō.

"I also want to play, but someone like you, could not stand a second the kind of fun I like ..."

After her words, Ann began to laugh in a resounding way, she had given her side to her escorts, but moved and decided to look at them straight, a demented smile and lost eyes had taken hold of her face.

Temari and Shikamaru stepped back, their faces could not help but reflect surprise.

"What happened? Don't you want to have fun with me anymore?" the Taiyō said as she walked slowly towards them, her voice sounded gloomy, she seemed like another person.

The Daimyo spoke with the sub-leaders of the Taiyō clan, as did Gaara.

Kankurō appeared on the scene, he was exalted, he went directly to his brother.

"Gaara, you must come and see this!" He said startled.

"Kankurō What happened? Calm down," said the redhead, seeing the state of his older brother.

"There's no time for words, you'd better see it with your own eyes, follow me," said the brunette, then run out of the place.

"Nagashi-san I must leave you for a few moments, I'll send someone to come and gard you," the Kazekage excused himself.

"Hum, don't worry Kazekage, go calmly, the Taiyō are a very friendly and reasonable clan, there is no danger here, take care of what you should do," said the fat Daimio who had sat in an improvised maner in that place, together with the elders of that clan.

Gaara said goodbye by protocol, and went to follow Kankurō, he reached him right in the laboratory, where the other clan leaders had taken the grace to destroy everything in the place, nothing seemed redundant. Until they reached the tubes that had contained the clones, they were debris, but they had been destroyed from within.

"The clones were not there when we got to this part," said Kankurō. "I have divided the men and sent for them from within the whole clan and all the radius of the Village. Already send an order to watch the entrances and be attentive to any interference that occurs in the seal barrier."

"Well done Kankurō, but this can only mean one thing ..." Gaara put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Temari!" He exalted his speech, while he half open his eyes. "Temari is in danger! Kankurō, go with the Feudal Lord and hide him in a safe place, then try to contact me again," ordered the redhead, and then ran urgently to where he should locate his sister and Shikamaru.

Kankurō also started to run, heading towards the Daimio. But his concern was with Temari. How come they had not noticed before?

She walked quietly on the shore of the beach, it was a small desert peninsula, which contained the right place for the occasion.

The place was so quiet, she could hear her footsteps on the sand with every movement.

She began to hum, she felt a little anxious, and started thinking about the music relieved his soul.

I only got you in my stories

And you know I tell them right

Remember you and I, when I'm awake at night

So give it up for fallen glory

I never got to say goodbye

I wish I could ask for just a bit more time

Every step I take, you used to lead the way

Now I'm terrified to face it on my own

You're not there.

Her voice at first sounded a little out of tune and broken, but as she continued, she was able to find the harmony she was looking for.

She just needed a little, a little more and her brother and she would be free from that place they should call home, but some time ago they felt that it stopped being it.

He arrived at the place and witnessed just what he had feared.

"Temari!" He exclaimed worriedly as he addressed his sister, who was lying on the ground, as was Shikamaru. "Please, react Temari, Temari!" He laid her on his lap and began to lightly pat her on the cheeks to wake her up. Although she did not show any injuries and the environment was intact, his countenance seemed somewhat emaciated.

"Gaa ... Gaara ... e-are ... you?" She said, reacting to her younger brother's encouragement. "What happened? Where is Shikamaru?"

"I do not know, I just arrived, it seems that it was not difficult for Ann-sama to get rid of you," said the redhead annoyed as he helped Temari up. "By the way, Shikamaru is lying there," he said pointing in a funny way, like a child, the place where Nara was unconscious, his position was very funny, he was leaning against the wall all bent, with his feet and full body on top of his head.

"Shikamaru! Wake-up lazy, there's no time for you to keep snoozing," Temari said annoyed, apparently completely reinstated, as she was again full of energy, while holding the Nara's neck and began to slap him to react.

It didn't cost him much to return to himself because of such stimulation from the Kunoichi. Once the two were very stable, they told what happened to Gaara.

"I see, so she had that up her sleeve and decided to start using it," said the Kazekage, who crossed his arms and stared seriously through one of the windows of the corridor of the barracks.

"What will we do now? Are we looking for the fugitive clones or do we capture that brat?" Temari asked directly with the same seriousness in her face.

Her younger brother did not respond, seemed focused on something else, had closed his eyes.

"We'll do both," he said, coming to himself, after a few seconds he had used to think. "I have found her, she is not far away, although I am amazed that she has been able to escape the barrier in such a simple way. But the place where she is ..." He stopped a little annoyed. Why didn't she flee to the desert side? In front of the ocean, she has only cornered herself ..."

"Maybe she has good skills, but she must be a very bad strategist," Temari said.

Shikamaru could not help but feel worried, he had analyzed the look and acting of that girl they called Ann. And what he had seen in her was not pleasant at all.

"Or maybe she has the ability and enough confidence to have the audacity not to flee," emitted the redhead even more worried.

Shikamaru sketched a smile of affliction, the Kazekage had taken away the words he intended to say.

"Temari, look for Kankurō and Baki, and reorganize the security of the Village, as you indicated, this night may be very conflicting, some may not see the next sunrise," said the young Kazekage while staring at the moon that had just made its appearance, bringing the cold night with her.

It was a full moon, imposing and lonely in the now dark sky.

She felt that he would arrive at any moment, she knew that the probability that she wouldn't have to fight was very low, but she could not help but dream that something like this would happen.

He appeared several meters ahead, he walked towards her, his steps were equally calm, apparently the two knew in the inside that a confrontation between them was inevitable.

"I would have preferred not to get to this situation, Ann-sama," said calmly, the redhead stopping a couple of meters in front of her, crossing his arms.

"I would also have preferred not to go through this, Kazekage," expressed with annoyance in her voice, the Taiyō, as she stopped. But tonight, Draco and I disappear from this place, no matter who we have to face-"

"I do not understand," the redhead interrupted. "Why escape? Why now, just when you are about to be free from the bloody hand that oppressed you? I thought, what you were looking for was you freedom-"

"With what right comes to speak to me of freedom, a bird whose wings were torn off and bowed to accept the fate that was imposed on it?!" Exclaimed excitedly, Ann, this time being she who interrupted. "You speak a lot, former Jinchuriki of the Ichibi, to be someone who is prey to his own feelings and walks in the world, mistakenly thinking that he knows the true meaning of freedom."

Gaara opened his eyes a little, he certainly did not expect to hear such words from such a person.

"It seems that your eyes can see beyond what is visible to the naked eye, it is a pity that your way of thinking is not similar," he expressed, returning to his common expression.

"Enough talk, I'm sure you didn't come to convince me with the power of your word, just as I don't intend to desist my ideals easily." She put one of her hands in the hidden pocket of her tunic, as if looking for something.

"Before starting, I want to know, what did you do with the clones? Those beings are dangerous. I want to believe that you didn't commit the irresponsibility of letting them go and leaving them to their will," the Kazekage said quickly.

Anngelius smiled darkly at those words, took her hand out of her tunic and with it a parchment, which she showed abruptly to the person in front of her.

"I wanted to talk about them... Tell me Kazekage, how would you react to your clone, if you had it in front of you?"

Gaara uncrossed his arms, he could not believe that it was really going to happen.

"But why stay with the doubt? You have to see what happens, right?" The Taiyō issued with cries.

She bit the thumb of the hand that was holding the parchment, which she let loose in the air and stained with her blood.

The parchment opened, bringing with it a strong blizzard, giving rise to fifteen figures invoked on the scene. One of them went quickly to the Kazekage, with the clear intention of attacking him.

Gaara was able to stop the blow of that being that had approached him furtively, as soon as the wind and sand dissipated, he could see who it was.

"You..." Was the only thing the Kazekage managed to pronounce out of amazement.

"Ah, I am you..." Expressed defiantly, the redhead he had in front, who possessed the same eyes as him, the same voice and the same serious expression on his face.

It was then that Gaara met his other self, the other Gaara.

End of the chapter.

This chapter has an image, as the fanfiction platform does not allow uploading images, you can see it following this link, removing the spaces, redirecting them to the album.

" www.f /Wonderlan dEi/photo s/a.1026781597456798.10737418 46.933000820168210/102678818745613 9/?type=3&theater"

Author's Note:

Hello people! What did you think of the chapter? Leave me a comment telling me your favorite part, please, do it for me, my birthday was [the week in which I wrote it, so] make me that gift xD hahaha ok, too much blackmail.

At least give me a vote or favorite and I will be satisfied, I turn to your consciences. 7u7r

Bye, bye.


	13. Chapter 12

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 12

Since she had conscious, she received praise after praise, dozens of people only lived around her to serve her, and according to her parents, Lord and Leidy Taiyō, she was the chosen one, and the future kept great things in-store for her.

From a very young age, she showed great potential for medical ninjutsu, which was quite sought after in her village, due to the wars that occurred in those times. She even had to risk her life to go to the front of the battlefield and heal her compatriots, forming a team for a few days, with the Third Lord Kazekage. She was barely twelve years old when all that happened, if they had asked her what she felt at that moment, she would never say that she felt afraid, because she did not feel it, but her heart felt a whole explosion of emotions, she lived around death, she experienced what was the feeling of killing someone in self-defense, and anger flooded her when she could not help, when they arrived too late and only found cold corpses everywhere, but without a doubt, something that marked her forever, was to meet him.

She never thought that, that being would make her change the way she saw life, and would make her do things she would regret later. She wished that all that would have been just a nightmare and that her eyes would soon awaken from that gloomy reality.

"Daena, wake-up, the baby is crying!" Expressed a masculine voice, while he entered in a hasty form to the room.

And certainly, the cries of a newborn flooded the place, while her mother, Daena-sama, the recent leader of the Taiyō, was standing in front of the huge window that illuminated her ostentatious dwelling, with the lost look towards the outside, as if trying to find the solution to her problems with it.

"Oh, it's you dear husband ..." She barely said, turning her gaze to him for a few seconds, then returning to her initial pose.

"Of course, it's me! Why do you let our little girl cry so disconsolately?" The somewhat annoyed man demanded, as he made his way to the cradle from which the weeping came.

Then the man took, who was someone quite beautiful, with long black hair and with deep and hypnotizing eyes, the same color, took action. He took the weeping girl in his arms and began to lull her to calm down.

"She just wants to get attention," Daena said coldly, as she walked toward the tea table in the room.

"Maybe so, but there must be other reasons too, she must be hungry or maybe she needs a diaper change," said the husband, who, without disgust and in a paternal act, checked the diaper of the little girl. "Weird, you're clean, and you don't seem hungry." He put on a worried face.

"I told you, just look for attention, the servants already took care of feeding her and taking care of her needs," said the Taiyō without emotion, as she poured herself a steaming cup of tea and sat in one of the two chairs that were available around the small table.

"Mmm ... I guess you're right," he admitted. "But isn't she a beautiful little thing? She deserves all the attention she wants to receive. Don't you think?" He said in a tenderly voice, as he spread the baby in front of him, while he grabbed her gently. For her part, the little blonde had stopped crying and with her eyes looked tenderly at her protector.

But to Daena, the last thing she wanted, was to talk or pay attention to that child.

"And how did you do on this mission? I was so worried..."

"Ah, it was somewhat complicated ... But it's not worth talking about it now. I'm here, right? Let's talk about our beloved daughter, she was barely a day old when I left, and look at her now, it's a few days before her first month, she has grown a lot," said her husband excitedly, while still holding the little girl in his arms. He sat in the free chair that was next to the tea table, to be with his wife.

"Hmm, if that's what you want to talk about, I'll listen to you," she answered dryly.

"By the way, I feel very bad for not knowing the name of my own daughter. Which of all the names we chose together, did you decide at the end?" He asked enthusiastically, as he looked at her, this time, tenderly.

The truth was that Daena, in his absence, the least she had done, was to have spent time with her own daughter, much less to have thought about her name.

"Ah ... Etto ... well ... I preferred to wait for you to arrive, that way we could choose it together," she lied, while she lowered her head and put a false blush, to hide her disinterest.

"I see, although you shouldn't have done that, our little girl, like any other beloved baby, deserved to be baptized with a proper name, preferably in her first three days of life," the brunette said, making a face of a tantrum as if he were a child , and hugged his baby like a very delicate stuffed animal.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think that would bother you ..." Daena turned her gaze to the opposite side, it made her want to laugh at the childish and funny attitude that her husband had taken.

"Well, what can se do, let's decide her name now, I will not let another day pass for my little one to live in anonymity," he got up from his chair, and stood in front of the window of the room, making the afternoon sun illuminate them, highlighting the difference of colors that their hair had.

"What do you think of Agatha?" The Taiyō suggested, still sitting, sipping the contents of her cup.

"Sounds nice, but doesn't express everything she is," said the brunette, in rejection.

"Blonde?"

"No, it's too common..."

"Tangela?"

"Hum ... no."

"Priya?"

"I like it, but it does not identify her completely, apart from pretty, I am sure that our little one will be the rude girl who will kick every person who crosses her path."

"You're not suggesting we call her the same as me, right?" Frowned the Taiyō mother.

"Of course not," her husband said. "Your name is very long, and even a little ugly, if you start to analyze what it means. Honestly, I don't know what my in-laws were thinking, when they baptized you with such a name ..."

"Well, sorry for having such an ugly name, that does not meet your expectations of "indicated,"" said with annoyance, Daena. She rose quickly from her place, going to the door, with the clear intention of leaving.

But before opening the door, he gave one last look to her husband and daughter. She was hypnotized by what her eyes witnessed.

From that angle, she could see how the generous sun god, illuminated the previously mentioned, making their hair shine in a beautiful way. A breeze coming from the outside garden, entered through the open window, bringing with it some leaves that flooded the place.

She covered her face, to prevent something from reaching her eyes. When she opened them again, she could see that her family was still standing in the same place and that they were staring at her.

"Look, little one, your mother is afraid of a little wind," her husband laughed jovially, as he began to remove the dry leaves that had settled both on his head and on that of his wavy blond daughter.

"Stop mocking me, I'm not afraid of the wind, I just hate mess," Daena said, as she approached him, to remove the tangled leaf behind his hair.

He stopped laughing, not because of his wife's complaint or approach, but because he had found something striking in his daughter's golden hair.

"A golden feather ..." the brunette murmured, slowly removing the feather.

"It must be one of the exotic birds that walk around the gardens," his wife said, taking that object from his hands and examining it seriously.

"There are no birds with golden plumage, at least not in our gardens," he said. "Unless ... this feather belongs to Iderum, Ra's faithful pet."

"Please, the phoenixes don't exist, and if they ever existed, it's more than clear that they went extinct," Daena said indifferently, as she headed for the exit, feather in hand.

"Anngelius ... that will be your name, my little future bully," expressed with emotion her father, while he lifted her upwards, making the infant open her sleepy eyes.

Daena, although she was totally ignored by the last thing she had said, could not help but show curiosity about that strange name.

"Anngelius? Why that suggestion?" She asked confused.

"Well ... our daughter is similar to that phoenix bird that they talk so much about in storybooks, almost nobody thinks it exists, but nevertheless, most likely, she lives among us, without us noticing ..."

"I don't see a connection, I think you're delirious," his wife said skeptically.

"Okay, maybe I'm just making this up, but ... seeing that feather in her hair, I got the impression that I was holding a little angel in my hands ..."

"The plumage of the angels is white, not golden. In addition, the latter really existed, fossils were found that prove that in ancient times they lived on earth and-"

"I know, I know ... but angels other than beautiful, were strong and temperamental, right?"

"Well ... that's how they are described in the old found manuscripts, but it's not something that can be proven beyond that ..."

"You know, we better stop arguing about that matter and let her decide what she wants to call herself," the man offered as a solution, as he put his daughter in front of her.

"That is incoherent in itself, she is not aware of anything specific ..."

"Hey, you should not underestimate our daughter, let's see, try to call her with those names you suggested, if she reacts to any, it's because she likes it..."

It seemed silly to Daena, but she wanted to get over with the name business. She started calling her with all the names she had previously mentioned, but there was no reaction from the baby.

It was then that they changed roles, Daena being the one who grabbed her daughter and her husband began to call her.

"Anngelius, come, come with dad ..."

The little blonde thing reacted almost instantly, fixing her faint and premature gaze on her father, while she opened her mouth showing a small and chimney smile.

The Taiyō leader showed a slight astonishment, it was the first time she had seen that expression on her daughter.

"Oh look! She likes the name I chose for her," her father said happily, as he took Anngelius from her arms and began to laugh happily with her, holding her with one of his hands.

"Okay, you were right, you won. Now I have to go to some clan business," she said in a calm tone, shedding the embrace her husband gave her. "If you want stay with "Anngelius" until the servants who care for her arrive, they won't take long to arrive..."

"Hum, in fact, tell them not to show up, I want to recover all the father-daughter time that we lost, I'll take care of her, during all the days that come, until my rest is over ..." Declared the brunette while continuing to turn as he hugged his toothless daughter.

"As you wish, well see you later then," said Daena, unable to avoid showing a slight smile at such a scene.

"See you later, honey. Say good-bye to Mommy, Anngelius," he blurted out, grabbing his daughter's hand and waving it in farewell.

It was a beautiful and perfect scene, which Daena could never see again.

The thump woke her from her sleep. The people who had carried her, after being sealed in that sand statue, had thrown her to the ground with brusqueness.

 _Why? Why do I have to start remembering the past right now? Anngelius ... How were you able to betray your dear mother? You will taste my anger as soon as I manage to get out of this place ... Draco ... my little one, are you okay?_

There was an explosion nearby, the voices of screaming women, while some ninjas began to order an evacuation. Among all the chaos, they forgot to close the gate of the cell where she was.

She did not know what was happening, but she could not help thinking that luck was in her favor, again.

* ~ * ~ ... * ~ * ~

He had stopped the blow with one of his hands, barely exchanged a few words with his adversary, the clone, who showed a wicked smile on his face.

A horrible sensation flooded him inside, it was like looking in a mirror.

The clone recoiled, because Gaara's defensive sand was starting to bother him.

"What's wrong? It seems as if you had seen a ghost," Ann said, addressing the redhead, while still standing a few meters away.

The remaining fourteen shadows were placed behind the clone that had dared to attack the Kazekage.

Behind the false Gaara, were Temari, Kankurō and the twelve leaders who had attended the meeting a few weeks ago.

All were identical to their originals, but they wore the Taiyōs' characteristic dress. Which was a golden unique design. With the symbol of the flaming Sun on their backs.

Gaara began to gather a sand shield around him, it would not be easy to face against fifteen beings at once, not counting Ann, who would try to escape.

"Easy Kazekage, they do not intend to fight with you," Ann announced, resuming her step at a slow pace. "Their goal is another ..."

The clones smiled at the words of the person who had invoked them, it seems that this was the signal for their actions.

They all started running north, leaving only the clone of the Kazekage.

"That direction ... perhaps they intend to attack ..." Gaara murmured, causing concern to flood his face.

"Yes, the clones will attack the village that you have tried so zealously to protect all these years, all its inhabitants will not have the happiness of seeing a new sunrise, since this will be their last night..." Uttered indifferently the Taiyo. "Maybe, this will be the last time I'll have to see you face Kazekage. Goodbye.

He started to run towards the bottom of that desert peninsula that went into the sea, still with her brother on her back.

Gaara tried to create a barrier to prevent her from continuing, but was interrupted by the clone.

"Your opponent here is me, just in case you manage to beat me, you can go after Ann-sama," expressed his false self, with mockery, "although the chances of that happening are almost nil..."

"I do not have time to play with a crude imitation of mine. A copy can never win the original," the Kazekage declared, attacking him without compassion, throwing a dense rain of hail at his opponent.

The latter did not make the least attempt to protect himself and he received the attack directly, causing his body to be stamped on the ground.

Gaara continued to attack him, and then cover him with his "sand coffin" attack, causing him to dictate along with it.

"I can not believe that I come from such a silly boy," said the clone, appearing behind the redhead, resting his hand on his shoulder.

The Kazekage reacted almost simultaneously, jumping away, trying to keep distance. He already knew that there was a probability that his clone would have the ability to manipulate the sand as well as him. But he had to find out to what level his control came with that element.

"You know, I really don't want to fight with you, but I must buy time for Ann-sama to escape. Wouldn't it be better if you go behind the other clones and protect that village that you love so much?" The clone pointed, while opting for a carefree pose and holding a hand to the back of his neck. His face reflected laziness.

"It's so discreditable and unpleasant to see a lazy expression in oneself; As my clone, I thought you would be a worthy opponent, but it seems I was wrong," the Kazekage said severely, showing disappointment in his face.

"Well, sorry for disappoint you, "Mr. perfection,"" said sarcastically, the clone, "and by the way, I have a proper name with which my creator baptized me." He put a serious expression on his face. "Call me, Gaatwo," He finished.

"Gaatwo? What a strange name," the redhead said a little surprised.

"My name is a derivation of yours idiot, if mine is strange, yours is weird," Gaatwo said annoyed, at the words of the Kazekage.

For some reason Gaara felt for a few seconds that he was having an argument with Kankurō, no doubt the scene was somewhat ironic.

"Okay, I did not want to get to this, but I changed my mind," Gaatwo, took out a huge sword from a parchment he was carrying. "I guess you know who this object belongs to, and for sure it's not the first time that its edge will be pointed towards you."

"Maybe," the redhead said dryly.

Then Gaatwo, the clone, rushed towards him, wielding his sword in a rather aggressive way. Gaara eluded him with agility; Due to the assimilation that his opponent had with the sand, the latter did not bother to use it to protect himself. Kenjutsu was not his specialty, but the basic wisdom was to not fall prey to this kind of attack.

"Don't think you'll last long, if you just dodge me and keep your distance, Kazekage," Gaatwo warned, as he moved quickly toward him.

Standing a few inches away, he disappeared before the eyes of the redhead.

Gaara began to trace his location through the sand, when two hands pulled him to the ground, and then sent him flying through the air, that's when Gaatwo reappeared, he would take advantage of the disadvantage they had to be far from the ground, to inflict damage using kenjutsu.

In the air it was not easy to dodge attacks, but that did not mean it was impossible, the sound produced by the sword when hitting the wind, was a good guide to anticipate the attacks, but if you did not have quick reflexes, it would be useless to foresee the movements.

The last attack happened past of his head, he could see how his hair disappeared in the wind, after being hit by the edge of the sword.

They returned to touch earth, and that is because gravity was not anyone's friend, everything that went up, sooner or later had to come down, one way or another.

They fell on their feet, several meters away from each other.

"I must admit that you have good reflexes, this practice is enough for me to finish my warm-up. What if this time we fight seriously?" Expressed the clone while putting away his sword and opted for a combat pose.

Gaara looked at him with acceptance, although he had not lost track of his main objective, he had to accept that he had not had a confrontation that forced him to show his full potential, and this would be a good opportunity to "deoxidize" a bit.

"It seems alright to me, but I hope you don't harbor the false illusion that you will be able to defeat me," said the Kazekage, as he launched the attack, at the same time as his clone.

With that the two began a fight with pure and clean taijutsu.

* ~ * ~ * ... * ~ * ~

Kankurō and Temari had just given instructions to reinforce the protection of the village, just as they were reorganizing to reinforce their younger brother, they heard an explosion at the south gate, where the barrier was broken and fourteen individuals tried to enter to the city.

The older siblings of the sand, did not take long to get to the place, but were not prepared to see what their eyes would show them. The clones of both, were the leaders, all dressed in the golden robe symbol of the Taiyō Clan.

"What's wrong real me? Cat eat your tongue? Or is it that you are just like that because you saw me? Wow, what a sensitive little woman you came to be," expressed in a tone of mockery, the clone of Temari.

"It's definitely identical to you, I think the world is not prepared to have two equally troublesome women," said Shikamaru, who appeared next. "But, don't worry, the Kazekage foresaw that this could happen, and gave me the sensible task of gathering our reinforcements..."

And behind him, appeared the twelve leaders of clans, all with a serious conviction, ready for what they had to face.

"Then this will be one against one, you know, do not allow yourself to be defeated by a copy of yourselves," added Kankurō, who was a little more confident, while directly taking out his most powerful puppet: Sasori.

"Remember, we must avoid even the minimum damage to the village, try to get the clones back and fight in the desert," said Temari, who also put herself in attack position and pulled out her big fan from her back.

The two sides began to run, facing the imminent confrontation.

Everything would be decided that night, the fate of the Village was at stake.

In one of the cells abandoned do to the attack of the clones, the seal of sand had just cracked completely, leaving its prisoner free.

Which side would Daena, the leader of the Taiyō take?

Of everything that was happening, her actions were the most uncertain.

End of the chapter.

NOTE: This chapter, like the previous one, contains a new image. As the FF platform does not allow uploading images in the chapters, you can see it on my facebook page WonderlandEi in images / albums / TheSandChronicles.

Translator's Note:

The original name given by the author to Gaara's clone is Gaados, which translates to Gaatwo. Usually names don't translate but in this case I chose to do it do to the comical appeal, and after receiving permission from the author.


	14. Chapter 13

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 13

It marked a little more than nine o'clock at night, he was helping his children to brush their teeth and then send them to sleep. But, he heard a loud explosion in the vicinity of their house, they lived near the walls of the village, making them, in an invasion, one of the first to feel the attack.

A second explosion took him out of his trance.

"Papa, balls of fire are falling from the sky, they just destroyed the neighbor's house from the other block," said one of his twins, while looking through one of the small windows that were on the side of the street.

"Get away from the windows, it's dangerous!" Niashi exclaimed, running towards his son.

A third explosion caused his house to shake, apparently one of the fireballs had hit the house on its side.

Shouts of people asking for help began to be heard from outside.

"Dear, what's all that noise? I felt that our house was shaking..." asked his wife, who had awakened to what had happened and even with her weakness, had stood up, standing in the door of her bedroom.

"Sahira ..." her husband said, approaching her with his twins in his arms. "You will have to hide in the shelter we have in the basement. It seems that we are being attacked," he carried her on his back, and with his children following, he made them take shelter in the basement they had in their home.

"Papa, will you not stay?" Asked sadly, his other twin son who had remained silent.

"No, I must go help the other neighbors, in this part of the city only villagers and merchants dwell, don't worry, here you will be safe, I will return," answered the Taiyō, while he watched them with affection, and then close the door, disappearing from the scene.

The twins hugged their mother, they could not help but show fear on their infant faces.

"My little ones, don't fear, your father will be fine, he is very strong," Sahira said, embracing them tenderly.

But the truth was that even she was afraid that something would happen to her beloved, however she had to show determination, for her children.

/ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * /

He went out to the street and found devastation in his path, he began to help people who had been trapped in the ruins of what had been their homes. Fortunately, help arrived quickly and other ninjas began to evacuate those affected.

"Do you know who are the ones attacking us?" Niashi asked dejectedly, while using his earth element to prevent the fireballs from hitting the houses.

"The attack comes from the back of the village, we are not sure who they are ..." Replied his unknown comrade, while using his sensory to find survivors in the rubble.

Two characters appeared in the sky, near them, they were two women who were using their fans as swords. They beat without mercy. One was Temari-sama the elder sister of the Kazekage and the other woman was...

"Temari-sama... is facing Temari-sama..." Stuttered surprised the ninja who was close to Niashi.

 _"It can not be, this can not be happening, that suit that one of them bears... Why is she wearing our clan's combat suit? Does this have something to do with Anngelius?" Niashi thought, as he climbed one of the tallest towers in the area, to get a better view of the situation._

The user of the explosive element that launched the fireballs was located in the upper part of the southern entrance of the village. He was undoubtedly the leader of the Hakunetsu clan, or better resembled the leader of that clan, since he also wore the Taiyō's tunic.

He ran in that direction, for the moment the priority was to prevent them from attacking the village from the air with that destructive jutsu that the Hakunetsu possessed. It would not be easy to arrive and face him, but as an ex Anbu, at least he would have the opportunity to paralyze him.

On the way, he encountered a presence that was going in the same direction as him.

"Shun?! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be protecting the hospital?" Niashi asked intrigued, running to her side.

"Niashi-san, how long..." The kunoichi replied dryly, "The hospital has efficient ninjas that protect it, for now, I thought that the best thing would be to neutralize the wretch who is destroying the village."

"I thought the same, I still don't understand the reason why they don't do anything to stop it..." Said the blonde.

"Have you noticed that the attackers, apart from appearing clones of the clan leaders, they are wearing the representative tunic of our clan?" The brunette asked with an air of annoyance, brushing aside the words of her companion.

"Ah, I've noticed... I have a feeling that Ann is involved in all this."

Shun stopped short, seeking the presence of her medical leader.

"She is not in the village, I can't feel her presence," expressed with relief the kunoichi, "No, she would never provoke this kind of situations..."

Niashi, who had also stopped, did not have the same calm in his eyes.

"I see, well, the best thing is to continue, we must stop that fire spits."

The two resumed their march.

Kankurō struggled with his rival, seeing himself without makeup while fighting, gave him an unpleasant sensation.

"What don't you plan on taking out your puppets?" Asked his clone.

"Hum, that's what you want, right? I'm not such an idiot as to take out the objects that can be used against me," replied the chestnut, as he gave a direct kick to the ribs of his clone, who recoiled because of it.

"Damn you..." The latter blasphemed.

Shikamaru, who had focused on helping the wounded he encountered, barely broke free from helping, and started thinking about a strategy. The biggest opponent they had to stop was the clone of the clan leader Hakunetsu, whose original had been neutralized by his own copy and was unconscious next to it, in the highest part of the entrance, surrounded by a wall of fire, to avoid being attacked.

Two presences appeared meters away from him.

"The direct attacks with him are dangerous, but I just found his weak point, Shun, I need you to distract him, in order to make my stamp technique," said the Taiyō with confidence.

"Hmm, leave it to me," the brunette replied.

The Nara was surprised at such a discovery with eyes, it seemed that those of the Sand also had good strategists.

He approached them.

"It's a good plan, I've noticed that you also have the perspective that defeating them is a waste of time, which we do not have much of. I don't know what kind of seal you use, but I will help you, serving as a support in distraction."

The Taiyō looked at him with distrust, Shun pulled out a kunai from her dress with the clear intention of attacking if he took one more step.

"What is foreign ninja doing in this place? Surely, you have something to do with those who are attacking our villa. Identify yourself, if you don't want to be subdued by that serene face that radiates laziness."

"Uh... Wait, I'm an ally, I'm here at the request of the Kazekage and his family," said Shikamaru, seeing that they were pointing at him with a grimace. "Calm down, lady..."

Shun remained in the same position, she was one of those who did not trust foreigners.

"Lower your arm, Shun, I don't like to deal with ninjas from other villages either, but what the foreigner says is true," Niashi said, as he put his hand on his partner's arm so that she would lower her guard. "I have seen him interacting with Gaara-sama and his siblings, I think you are the representative that Konoha sent to discuss the scenarios of the next chunin exams, right?"

"Oh, that's right, now that I remember, I've seen you too at the Academy in this village, I suppose you're an instructor."

"I am Taiyō Nagashi, headmaster of the Academy and sensei of the third year. I do not want to be rude, but we do not have time for extensive presentations, we must stop Hakunetsu-sama, that is our priority."

"I understand, then tell me how I can be of help."

After a short explanation, the three went to their target. The clone was a huge but thin man, with long brown hair that reached the ground, he created fireballs with parts of the wall, to which he added a kind of incandescent lava that expelled from his own mouth.

Shun and Shikamaru took care of distracting him, causing him to attack them with the fire that had accumulated around him. It was after several minutes, when it seemed that the clone had won, that Niashi took advantage of his carelessness, appearing on his back. Thanks to his handling of the doton no jutsu (ground element jutsu) and sticking a sword into his back, with a scroll of sealing, he was able to immobilizing him completely while imprisoning him in the fabrics of the seal.

With that, the rain of fireballs ceased. Niashi finished completing the seal and then left to help the other clan leaders who were around, and who had an intense fight against their own clones.

"You can copy all my attacks and use the same elements as me, but there is something that only I possess and you lack," the leader Taiga exclaimed with might, as he rushed directly towards his clone, which had taken the same attack position, the two confronted as they wielded their blades of cutting wind. They were giving their backs for a few seconds, until one of them fell to the ground, the blood began to come out abundantly from his abdomen, no doubt it had been a mortal wound.

"How... how... is it possible?" Barely articulated, the defeated clone, with open eyes of amazement, and the little air that was left in his throat.

"I already told you, a copy can never face the original and win," Neri Taiga answered, approaching him, and undoing the wind technique he had in his arm.

Niashi arrived seconds later to that scenario.

"I'm happy to know Taiga-sama that you could obtain the victory, please, I ask for your permission to seal the individual," expressed the Taiyō.

"Hu hu... The shadow can never overcome the real figure of which it is a copy," the Taiga proudly expressed. "Ah, the best thing is to seal it, not because I'm afraid it will run away, in its state it will not move an inch," he laughed, "It would be more convenient that it does not die, I got a little over excited about it, because it's been years since I've faced a worthy opponent and I almost ended up gutting him..." Said with a bit of pity the leader, while taking a hand to the back of his neck.

"Don't worry, the seal will prolong his life long enough, until we can take advantage of his capture," Niashi replied, as he applied the seal to the badly wounded clone.

"Niashi... Why do these clones wear the clothes of your clan?" Taiga said directly, this time with a very serious voice. "I know that you no longer belong and serve them, but…"

"My fidelity and service belong to the military force of Sunakagure, I could give my life blindly in sacrifice if the Kazekage asked me to do so; I have no idea if this is a rebellion of the Taiyō clan, however, you should know that I am not involved with their plans," Niashi said seriously, finishing applying the seal and getting up to look with determination in the eyes of the Taiga leader.

"Ah, I did not want to offend you, I see sincerity in your words, I apologize," Taiga said, removing the worry from his face.

Anngelius carefully lowered her unconscious brother, who she was carrying and laid him on the ground.

The place was the end of that small and thin peninsula that went into the ocean.

"You a little longer than planned. Did the Kazekage find you?" Asked quietly, Eros, as he continued to write on a huge metal platform, which was covered in gold and in which he had carved several hieroglyphs and Alchemy symbols.

Ann did not answer, but raised her hands to the night sky, which was flooded by the light of the full moon. It seemed that she was trying to measure the stars.

"We still have plenty of time, right?" Asked Agape, who was also helping to write on that strange board.

"The moon will reach the set point in about two hours and twenty minutes," the Taiyō said dryly. "That will be the moment in which we will have our last chance..."

A strong breeze from the ocean made her hair begin to dance wildly in the wind.

"In the end, the clones helped us, it's a shame they can not come with us, I liked them," muttered almost to himself, Eros, as he got up to take a short break from so much crouching on the ground.

"Hmmmm... Poor them, and to think they are sacrificing themselves for us..." Added Agape, as she stopped writing and stared at the full moon with an air of resignation.

Anngelius remained silent, although a glimpse of sadness took hold of her almost inexpressive lips.

He caught him from one of his legs and began to spin him around as if he were a rag doll, and then threw him into the sky. He continued attacking him in the air.

Gaara put together his arms and legs to create a defense, the clone's blows were quite aggressive, he could notice that he pointed to the union of joints and vital organs. Undoubtedly, his plan was to get him out of combat in the shortest possible time.

They fell back on the ground, the clone began to attack him with a sequence of fists, all pointing to his face.

He ended up tackling his opponent's fists with his hands, forcing them to wrestle each other. They had their eyes face to face.

"Why do you fight fervently against me? What are you not able to realize that they are only using you?" Gaara said with the seriousness that characterized him.

"You are wrong, Ann-sama is not using us, we are helping her of our own free will," said Gaatwo, the clone. His face reflected a great determination. Taking advantage of that his stature was a little greater to the one of the Kazekage, he dared to hit him with his head, causing him to recoil by the pain that he caused him on his forehead.

"What?! Are you saying that you don't mind losing your life to help her, even if you don't receive anything in return?" Gaara exclaimed, while on one on his cheeks a few drops of blood began to run, from the recent wound on his forehead.

"Ah, that's right. Anngelius-sama is for us the clones, as important, as for you is this village you call home," said Gaatwo who also began to bleed the crimson tears from his also wounded forehead.

Gaara could not understand where that genuine fidelity came from. What did all this mean? His clone possessed a personality so different from his own, in the few moments they lived battling, he could distinguish in his copy's face, more expressions than he himself could see on his own face in front of the mirror, every morning when he woke up.

A fulminating blizzard interrupted their meeting. Four presences were added to the scene.

And it was because after neutralizing and sealing all the clones of the leaders who had invaded the village, there was left only the copies of Temari and Kankurō, who, seeing themselves at a disadvantage, withdrew to the desert, where they continued in their battle with the originals. Until they reached where the third clone and the Kazekage were.

"Gaara Are you okay?" Demanded Temari demandingly, as she lined up to the right of her red-haired brother.

"Ah, I feel good..." Said Gaara, a little worried when he saw her, she was the one who looked bad, her clothes were a bit torn and one of her cheeks was apparently swollen by a session of blows.

"Heavens, worry first for yourself Temari, look how you are, you seem as if you'll faint with exhaustion," Kankurō said in a tone of disbelief, adding to his siblings.

"Shut up Kankurō!" Exclaimed the blonde as she extended her fan, in sign of attack.

There meters of them, the clones also had their reunion.

"I see, so the other twelve were captured," Gaatwo said with tranquility.

He could not help but notice how badly wounded his companions were, especially the girl, who bore the name of "Tematwo."

"Who hurt you so much? Was it that blonde woman-shaped thing we have in front? It looks like a kind of rough beast..." Added Gaara's clone, with a funny face of skepticism, while pointing childishly towards the original blonde.

Temari reacted in a bad way before the words that the clone of his younger brother had said.

"Spoiled brat, who do you dare to call "rough beast?" I'm going to give you a beating, that will probably take you to the world of the dead, it's a shame that Gaara has a rude and rotten being as a clone," said so annoyed the biggest of the Sand, to the extent that the tiredness that showed disappeared and was replaced with aggressive energy.

The three clones began to laugh, at the reaction of Temari. Without a doubt their personalities differed much from the original brothers.

"Whoo yee deeear cal ae roof bistii?," Said teasingly Kankurō's clone, while holding his hands to his head and pretending to have two pigtails, in order to copy the original Temari.

They broke up laughing again after that, even the original Kankurō had to hold his laughter, for the imitation of his copy.

"You, enough with the stupidity," Gaara said calmly, addressing the clones. "You will never be able to beat us, especially now that the three of us are together as a team, I will say it once, surrender or prepare for your destruction."

The clones were silent at his words, the seriousness returned to their faces, they exchanged knowing looks, no doubt they had already chosen.

"Come for us, but we assure you that we will not go alone to the arms of death, you will come with us," declared Gaatwo, as he began to use the sand around him. His clone siblings were also on guard.

Gaara did not want to reach this point, but he had to hurry, he would not let the Taiyō escape and if he had to defeat anyone who hindered him, he would not hesitate to do so. Neither he nor his siblings.

He closed his eyes for a moment, to regain firmness, and concentrate on fulfilling his mission.

"Kankurō, Temari, we don't have time to lose, we must end this quickly," said Gaara, "We will use our combined attack, hopefully, they don't perish."

"Ah, it would be appropriate, it's better if they don't die," Kankurō added.

"I'll rather they disappear," said Temari.

Then, the two sides began to face each other.

The clones were separated, compared to the original, who remained together, supporting their backs between them, as a strategy of protection, there was no blind spot in that simple but efficient defense.

Gaados was the first to attack them, but he did not fix his gaze on his original self, he went to Kankurō, who was supported by his siblings, to prevent him from even touching him.

But they did not realize that while they protected Kankurō, the copy of the chestnut took the opportunity to remove one of the scrolls that it carried on his back. Gaara's sand tried to prevent the object from being stolen, but as soon as he struggled against the invisible threads of the clone, the scroll opened, invoking the most precious puppet of Kankurō, Sasori, or now known and renamed "scorpion".

"Kantwo" as the clone of the puppeteer had been named, nimbly took the puppet under his possession.

"Damn, how could you be so careless, Kankurō?" Demanded Temari annoyed, seeing that now the clones had reduced the disadvantage they had.

"Calm down, they could have taken away my most powerful puppet, but if they don't know how to use it, it will be of no use to them," said Kankurō serenely.

Gaara remained silent, it was no use complaining about something that was already done.

The clones began to attack with their respective elements, but the sand siblings remained together, their backs turned in the formation they had decided from the beginning, however rotating if necessary. They remained in the same axes.

Gaatwo, Tematwo and Kantwo began to approach their rivals, it seemed that they had managed to have the advantage and very close victory.

The siblings on the other hand were somewhat exhausted, being alone defending themselves had put them in a degree of extreme demand that made them spend a large part of their chakras.

"Now is the time!" Ordered Gaara diligently.

Temari and Kankurō broke positions and leapt into the air, leaving their younger brother alone, about to be attacked by the three clones continuously.

He received the three synchronized attacks of the clones, then fell to the ground, dissolving and becoming one with the sand.

"A clone of sand... Then... The original is not here..." The redheaded clone said puzzled.

It was then that the floor at his feet began to move, trapping the three clones and gathering them, dragging them towards the middle.

Gaara reappeared from within the sand, while his siblings fell from the sky. The roles had been reversed, now the clones were cornered.

"Gaatwo, do something, the sand is your element," Tematwo said nervously while trying to get away from the ground that kept them captive.

"That's what I'm trying, but the ground doesn't react," Gaatwo said, "Unless this is..."

"That's right, it isn't the sand that has caught you," Gaara interrupted, "there is another element that I can now master, the golden dust."

While Gaara distracted his clone, Kankurō began to struggle with his own, in order to recover his "Scorpion" puppet.

Sasori began to move wrongly, on the one hand the threads ordered him to attack, while on the other threads told him to be on defense mode.

Tematwo tried to help her partner using her fan, but someone else went ahead.

"Too slow!" Temari shouted, waving her fan. "Ninja art, wind jutsu: Blizzard!" She finished.

The waves of sharp air, were directed towards the captured ones, causing that clone to lost its fan and that Sasori remained lying on the ground, because they cut all the threads that manipulated it.

"Well done Temari!" Shouted Kankurō, who with rapidity only of a veteran puppeteer, took possession again of Sasori.

Both older siblings left, so that Gaara would finish off the captives.

"It doesn't matter what you do with us, we will reappear again and again, as many times that we are necessary," Gaatwo articulated with determination.

Gaara watched them, none of them showed fear on their faces, but rather acceptance for what had just happened.

"Gaara!" His older siblings shouted in chorus, giving the signal to continue.

The Kazekage began to enclose the clones in a huge and hollow sphere, of sand; Temari and Kankurō climbed in the floating sand clouds that he created this time, so that they would surround the sphere and have the openings of it available, using their fan and Sasori's fire element, they began to fill the sphere, turning it into a heated furnace.

I really hope they survive this, thought the redhead.

"Coffin of burning sand!" He raised his hand in the direction of the sphere and closed it tightly.

The sphere was extremely compressed with its content, and then explode due to pressure. It didn't leave traces of the clones, but it did however leave considerable gap in its place.

"Let's go, our next target awaits us," the Kazekage ordered, being the first to move, he seemed calm on the outside, plus a strange sensation made him feel a slight twinge on his chest.

Daena entered the domain of her clan, everyone was surprised by her presence. Many remained paralyzed watching her.

"Why do you all look at me?" She growled. "The village is being attacked, and you are quartered by the fear of those miserable bombs. We are Taiyōs! We should be showing off, confronting the invaders. What, don't you have pride?!" She finished.

All those present, bowed their heads, they were powerful, but they were nothing if there was no imposing leader to lead them.

"Daena-sama, those who are attacking the village, are beings with a similar appearance to the leaders of the other clans, and they wear our clothes, as if they were theirs," said one of the sub-leaders.

"It's all my daughter's fault, she was the one who created those monsters," said the Taiyō, taking advantage of the situation and ignorance of her peers, "The best we can do now is to stop her, to clear the name of our clan."

All the Taiyōs looked at each other in amazement at the statements from the one they still considered their leader.

"She's right..."

"Anngelius-sama has betrayed us..."

"We must do something about it..."

"She must receive a punishment..."

The murmurs began to flood the place.

"That's right, that's why I need you to support me," Daena explained diligently, "We'll go out right now, and bring the traitor back, and punish her accordingly. Bring the singers! I believe I know where she is but as it is night, we will need the protection of the gods. The followers of Anubis will also come with us!" She ordered.

Everyone began to mobilize, blindly trusting Daena's words.

 _Anngelius, whatever you're up to, I will not let you escape, I'd rather you go to the world of the dead, even if you don't deserve to be reunited with your father..._

She began to walk calmly, in the direction of her mansion, she had to put on her battle suit in case she needed to use it.

At last they had finished writing the ritual.

"Oh, I am so tired, I couldn't wait to finish," Agape said as she laid on the sandy floor. "Aren't you tired?"

She had no answer. She got up to find out why her companions were so quiet. What she observed, made her pale with fright.

Both Ann and Eros, looked seriously at the three presences that had appeared a couple of meters in front.

"So unfortunately we had to see each other again," Ann said, releasing a sigh of resignation.

"I don't know what that board with symbols is for, but I will not let you use it, you and your clones will come with us, even if it's by force," the redhead decreed as he made the sand move towards them.

"Let me help you, I can be the distraction while you are located somewhere else," Eros said, as he put himself in front of his mistress with the intention of protecting her.

The Sand Siblings were about to attack them.

"No, you have another duty with Agape." Ann grabbed his arm and threw him in the direction of the alchemy board in which the other two were remaining. I'll take care of them three, until the time comes.

She pointed her hand towards the board, enclosing its contents in a spherical barrier, which began to levitate, and then take a great height.

Eros tried to scream and escape from the sphere that imprisoned him but couldn't, his position would be that of an observer.

Ann took off the medical Chief suit she always wore, letting her battle suit be seen, although it was not feminine, it made it easier for her to move, and when she did that, she left exposed the seal bracelets she had in her arms .

A wind jutsu was the first thing that reached her, forcing her back, making her stand on the surface of the water.

"How impatient," she murmured.

Although the moon illuminated the whole place, the wind brought by the waves of the ocean, gave a cold touch to the environment.

The three siblings were no longer for detours, they launched their attacks at the same time.

Ann smiled as she rarely knew how to do, she did not know if it was the anxiety that the moment caused her or the secret she would reveal to those unbelievers who had dared to attack her.

Soon she would leave that world forever, it didn't matter if she kept that secret that her clan had fervently hidden for hundreds of years.

Nothing mattered now, only his freedom.

END OF THE CHAPTER.


	15. Chapter 14

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 14.

He woke from that watery world that surrounded him, there was a lot of light for his sensitive eyes. He moved abruptly because of it. Part of his being began to feel something strange, something that would later be explained to him as noise.

A being appeared. She touched something in the strange object that was under him, with what humans called hands.

She was the first human that his eyes observed. He was captivated and hypnotized, he did not know what that strange sensation that flooded his naked body was. Unconsciously, his hands moved to her, he wanted to feel her, to touch her. But he could not move forward, he found the harsh reality that was trapped in a kind of transparent barrier. He moved his lower extremities with discomfort, a feeling called frustration flooded him.

"Wow, so we have our first conscious one," Ann observed the clone, who repeatedly hit the glass with his hands, as if wanting to escape where he was.

She approached the container tube where the Kazekage clone was. He looked at her in a strange way, but at the same time he was naive, she could not help thinking that he looked like a human baby in his first months of life. She wanted to be sure if his assumption was true.

She clicked on the monitor to activate the biosensor cables that it had attached to its premature central nervous system, as well as the air duct that it had attached to its mouth and middle abdomen, where an artificial umbilical cord provided what was necessary for its development and growth. All this was possible thanks to the advance of biotechnology and the implementation of stem cells in the production of cells, without forgetting the medical ninjutsu and creation.

She touched the last key, which executes the command that she had created for this situation, the clone would be administered a basic database, so that its objective existence would begin with the actions of an adult person, eliminating the prenatal, infantile and adolescent phases and everything they implied.

The clone felt an extreme shake in his head that made him convulse for a few seconds, he despaired, he tried to free himself of those extensions that caused him so much suffering, he felt a radical change to go through every muscle of his body. To then float inert, he fell into a state of trance, lost consciousness for a few moments.

He reacted again, raised his head and looked around him. He was in a huge holding tube, next to him, there were other beings in their same condition. He looked forward, towards that woman who minutes ago had done something in that artifact, apparently causing his sudden explosion of knowledge.

He raised his hands, supporting them to the glass that imprisoned him, no rather, they protected him, since he was still an incomplete being, being outside would cause him the end of his existence and that was something that for some reason caused him some repudiation.

"Can you understand what I say," he heard a voice inside his head.

It was the woman, who had placed a small contraption in one of her ears, which, apparently, was directly connected to him. Now it was she who was staring at him.

He tried to take off the respirator that was stuck in his mouth, to issue an answer, but he did not have the strength to proceed.

"It is not necessary that you articulate any word at the moment, if you understand me, move your head affirmatively, twice," the voice said again in his head.

Then he moved his head as she had ordered him.

"Try to communicate with me, tell me something, anything," the Taiyō said again in his mind.

The clone hesitated for a few seconds, he had many things to ask. But he decided for some in particular.

"Who I am? Who are you?" He manifested.

Anngelius adjusted the sensor on her side, keeping her cool expression on her face.

"You are a cloned being, created thanks to biotechnology and scientific advancements of medical science. I am Ann-sama, the creator of such a process that gave way to your existence. In short, your creator."

The clone felt a lump in his throat, the words he had just assimilated, produced a terrible sensation in his being.

"Were they too many words? Did you manage to understand everything I told you? Answer," the Taiyō added, seeing that there was no immediate response.

"Ah, I understood your words in their entirety, but ..." He hesitate, as doubt assailed him, "I have felt a bitter sensation, I do not feel well... Although I do not understand the reason..."

"I see, you must get used to it, the world you came to is full of bitterness, if my simple words hurt you, others would be able to eliminate you. Try to be the least sensitive as possible, it will not be difficult, your original has managed to dominate that aspect almost in its entirety."

The clone nodded his head. He contracted his legs to his abdomen and hugged himself with his hands, remaining inert in his small watery world.

"What you are feeling now, is called insecurity, you must also stop feeling it, otherwise you will be a failure for the mission to which you are destined."

He closed his eyes and bowed his head, he did not want to continue listening to that cold voice that reverberated in his mind. He thought that perhaps the best thing would have been to have never left his unconscious state.

He opened his eyes suddenly, he had almost no oxygen in his lungs, he reacted quickly, appearing on the surface of the desert, pulling in his arms his unconscious companions but with vital signs. He laid on the floor, his arms and legs had second-degree burns and a slight cut on the side of his abdomen. His breathing was agitated, a little more and they would have died with the attack of the sand siblings. But he managed to find a small opening in their attack of perfect synchrony, being able to escape with his companions, or rather, "siblings" because despite being clones, the blood bond was similar in them.

With effort he rejoined, rising with lethargy and a little panting. He did not have time to rest, he had to go to help Anngelius, who he felt that her chackra was in descent, probably due to the confrontation she was having with the Kazekage and his siblings.

He began to walk, slowly due to the wound he discovered on one of his ankles, heading to where the most important battle of that night was being fought.

He looked at the sky for a few seconds, the full moon was close to being at its highest point, a feeling of unease flooded him.

Anngelius received the combined attack that the Kazekage team had sent her. She had not even deigned to protect herself, the fall caused her to almost plunge into the ocean. She got up. A thin drop of blood descended from her forehead, running down one of her cheeks, then falling into the void.

But she interposed one of her arms, on the way, causing the drop of blood to fall on one of her seal bracelets.

That tiny crimson tear was the only thing she needed to get rid of those damned seals. Those that fell to the sea, barely opened.

Gaara and his team did not attack her again, she was on that unstable surface of water that was the sea. Without a doubt, it was a disadvantage for them.

"So she thinks to take shelter in the sea, it isn't a bad strategy, but it will not serve her for long," Gaara announced, while exchanging looks of order with his relatives.

Temari and Kankurō, went into the sea, the plan was to trap the Taiyō, so that she would return to the surface of the desert, where Gaara would take care of the rest.

The blonde with the pigtails was the one who decided to attack her first, extending her fan.

"Fūton: Kakeami!" Expressed Temari as she waved her ninja tool, causing a huge gust of wind in the form of a net, with the intention of imprisoning the Taiyō.

The latter eluded the attack, but fell into the trap, since Kankurō was the one who would give the real attack.

"Secret Red Jutsu: Marionette Triad!" The chestnut announced as he executed his Scorpion puppet, which separated his head from the body to throw several triangular leaves with bombs attached to them from his neck and hands.

Several explosives came to hit one of her arms, fortunately nothing that couldn't be cured with her own medical ninjutsu.

She started running in circles and would not allow herself to be forced to go ashore.

He took out a small scroll from his pocket, which contained the symbol 水 (Mizu/Water) spread it in the sky, and then literally absorbed it with one of his hands. His full arm took a deformed shape for a few seconds, then returned to normal.

Gaara took enough notice of that act, making him choose to support his brothers in the affront, he went into the sea in a cloud of sand.

"But look who decided to join the game," the Taiyō said sarcastically, as she ran into the sea, dodging the attacks of Temari and Kankurō.

"You will not escape coward!" Temari admitted, extending her fan again. She was about to make her attack, but it was interrupted.

"Stop Temari, save your strength, if you submerge in the sea, our mission will become more difficult," said the redhead seriously, while providing a cloud of sand to each of his siblings.

"Well thought, I think we'll have to use one of our formations if we want to neutralize her," Kankurō added, as he brought his scorpion puppet back to his side.

Anngelius stopped after a few seconds, she had already reached the distance she needed.

"I still can not believe that you have defeated so easily Gaatwo and his team," she expressed with annoyance in her voice, "You are quite ruthless beings, to the point of not hesitating to exterminate someone who is made to your image."

She had no answer from them. Those who watched her silently as they lined up for their next attack.

"I suppose now it's my turn to attack you," the Taiyō stated while doing a fairly extensive position, of more than 9 poses, to then end up submerging her hand in the water.

"Ninja art, water jutsu: Drizzle," she finished pronouncing, hitting the water around her again, making the drops of water become dangerous bullets that shot up.

Both Temari and Kankurō did not find it difficult to defend themselves against such an attack, but Gaara lost part of his precious sand by covering himself, falling into the ocean.

"Water Jutsu: Dancing Dragons," articulated again the one of golden iris, taking advantage of the disadvantage of her opponents.

"What the hell! How is it possible that you are a water element user? No doubt your clan has hidden many secrets from us," said Temari, jumping from her cloud, to face her in hand-to-hand combat, assuming that Ann was a user whose specialty was remote attack.

However, soon she would discover how wrong she was.

Two of the five dragons that appeared, went directly to the oldest of the Sand. She would not be able to dodge them, so Gaara had to leave the cloud that protected him and walk over the water to create a barrier to protect his sister.

He arrived just in time, Temari did not get hurt however, one of the other remaining dragons had managed to reach Kankurō, who also lost his cloud and was forced to remain on the surface of the water.

The redhead, began to quickly analyze the options they had, if they did not finish this soon, the three would sink into the bottom of the ocean to their end.

"I am not a water element user, but I must admit that it is my favorite element," stated with a serious tone the Taiyō while walking towards them.

Gaara's expression showed more frown than usual. That she was not a Water element user? Yeah right, her handling of the element was quite advanced that you couldn't even think that they were invoking jutsus, which were much scarcer.

She stopped a couple of meters above them, raised her right hand and pointed towards them.

"Let me go, and I promise you that you will never know about me again, neither you nor anyone, think about it, it's my last offer, you have 60 seconds before you destruction arrives. What will you decide?" the Taiyō said as an ultimatum.

"Hey girl, we've been quite understanding with you," Kankurō replied, rather irritated by her boldness.

"55, 54, 53, 52, 51 ..."

Started counting the Taiyō.

Gaara looked at her carefully, it had been a stupid proposal, but he could not help but worry about the seriousness with which she had pronounced it.

"In the hypothetical case that we agreed to let you escape, how would you do it? Does that board have anything to do with it?" Expressed the redhead, addressing his blonde rival. Of course he did not have the slightest intention to accept such ridiculousness, but he wanted to take the opportunity to gather more information.

"I don't have time to tell you the details ... 30, 29, 28, 27, 26 ..."

Temari exasperated, she could not stand the idea that someone younger than her could face her brothers, even with the disadvantage they had.

She was going to speak, but the surface of the sea where they were walking began to become more unstable than it was. A trembling noise was heard faintly in the distance.

"Time is up, I hope you know how to swim," said with mockery, Ann, as she hurt a finger, to summon her assistant.

It was then that the Sand Siblings, saw the monstrosity that was approaching them, from the immense ocean, a Tsunami of about 30 meters, was going with such a force that it would completely devastate the beach that was nearby.

"Ah, this is what I call "Water Jutsu: Tsunami"," proclaimed Ann as she climbed Iderum's back and flew away from there.

"I suppose we'll have to face the onslaught of that wave, right?" Kankurō pointed wryly.

The ideal would have been to move and run with the hope of getting rid of such an attack, but the surface was quite unstable, a false step and they could end up on the sea floor in a matter of seconds.

The giant wave came to them, sweeping them in their path, the only thing they had bet on was to stay together. The impact left them somewhat disoriented, causing their bodies to wander to the internal rhythm of the tide, their ninja conditions allowed them to withstand the lack of oxygen and blows when they reached the mainland.

Gaara was the first to get up out of the mud. Everything had happened so abruptly, that they could not remain united.

Kankurō appeared a few meters away, looking for his puppet, Sasori, who had seized his hood and was a few inches away from him.

His blond sister was the one who did not appear.

"Well, at least the tide got rid of one of you," Ann said, reappearing on the scene, with her guard in the air, going in the direction of the barrier that enclosed the mysterious board, her brother and clones.

The youngest of the Sand was worried, they could not feel the presence of their sister.

But she appeared from the mud, to the side of the Taiyō, and taking advantage of the situation and her negligence, she tackled her with her fan, causing her to fall to the ground in an abrupt manner.

Ann could barely notice her presence once she was on the ground, she got up quickly and took a distance, now that they were back on the ground, she had to be more cautious. Although the ground was wet, which meant that the Kazekage would be out of combat for a while.

The moon was minutes from reaching its perfect point.

The Taiyō observed her opponents, the three were still standing, ready to battle, if she thought of doing something, she would have to do it at that very moment.

Her two hands were armed with chackra blades, she fixed her eyes on the most important opponent, the Kazekage.

She ran towards his direction, wielding one of her hands like a sword.

"I remind you that we are three," pronounced the blonde with pigtails, crossing her path, she tried to hit her with her fan again.

"Dummy. I do not fall into the same trap twice," Ann said, as she stood between Temari and her fan, crossing in the middle, and taking the opportunity to kick her in the ribs, leaving her kneeling on the floor.

It was then Kankurō who decided to relieve his eldest, putting Sasori in flaming mode, having it expel great flames of fire by his hands and mouth.

Anngelius went on her way without worrying about the fire, instead jumping into the flames.

"Kankurō, be careful! The Taiyō have fire as their main element," warned Gaara, seeing his elder's carelessness.

But Kankurō did not manage to react in time, Ann spun her blades to cut the threads that connected him to Sasori, and taking advantage of the fact that he could not summon another puppet because he had his scrolls wet, she gave him a direct kick, pointing upwards, making him fly and fall meters away.

Finally, she had a clear path to defeat the Kazekage, she ran straight to him, who was quite calm for such a situation.

"What, will you no longer ask me to stop? Oh is that fear keeps you from talking?" She asked, clasping her hands, forming a larger blade and leaping toward him, clearly intending to split him in half.

"I have it clear, I can not persuade you to stop your escape attempt, words are too much," he protected himself by cutting off the attack with the only ninja weapon he had at his disposal, a simple Kunai. The only way to prevent her from escaping will be to defeat her, Ann-sama...

As soon as he finished speaking, the redhead changed his expression drastically, his look became much more serious. He was not someone who used taijutsu frequently, but given the situation, he had no choice.

In a second, he moved nimbly, and eluded the blade attack successfully. He took her in one of his arms and with all the weight of his body he pushed her back, while crossing one of her knees to more easily cause her to fall.

Ann fell face down on the ground, although she had an overwhelming strength, she was quite clumsy, which Gaara had grasped since the first time they fought outside the Village.

He neutralized her, having her lying on the floor, while continuing to press her arm in a crooked manner towards her back. She had vanished her knife technique to avoid cutting herself.

"Hand-to-hand combat is not my specialty, but even I have reserve techniques," the Kazekage argued, as he pressed his arm harder to the point of almost dislocating it.

"If you think I will ask in a plaintive voice to let go of me, you are wasting your time, you can tear my arm if you want, I will never give in to the point of begging," Ann, who had her face stuck to the ground, was practically helpless, her arm that was free could not reach her rival.

"I only have to endure, the time in which the moon passes position, I have noticed that you are worried about that, if I can prevent that you move during that short time, I will have won, although if it is all night until morning, it would not affect me, sleep and I have never gotten along," the redhead said confidently as he continued to bend her arm with more intensity.

Anngelius reacted to such words, it was true, if he spent another hour like this, everything would have been lost for her.

"I guess... I'll have to use that damned technique that I inherited from my not so dear mother," Ann muttered, turning around to see her captor on her side. "I'm sorry, Kazekage, but I have no choice..."

"Ninja art, threads of light..."

Her long golden hair became sharp needles, which grew in the direction of her rival, piercing him mercilessly. A few thick drops of the warm reddish liquid began to fall down the needles.

She did not want to open her eyes, she hated that technique, mostly because she had seen in the past how her mother used her indiscriminately to eliminate her enemies.

"That was close…"

The voice of the Kazekage made her turn around to see what had happened. Miraculously he had stopped the attack, he was covered with a golden tone, he seemed to be made of gold? But he had not been able to leave unharmed, some of the needles of hair crossed one of his shoulders and the lower part of his neck.

"Ho... how did you manage to avoid them?" Asked a little surprised the Taiyō, she was relieved in part for not having killed someone with that technique, but she was desperate from knowing that she was still immobilized.

"Sand is not the only element that I handle," Gaara answered. "Now that I am seriously injured, I am afraid I will be less orthodox with you, Princess Taiyō. I apologize."

Then, the Kazekage, with his free hand going through the needles, touched the head of his rival.

"Suna Raishin, Divine Thunder of the Sand," he expressed, to then release an electric shock, leaving her in total inertia and in a mode of unconsciousness.

The needles returned to normal hair, due to the defeat of their master.

Gaara got up, they had won.

A strange light was observed in the dark night sky. The barrier that levitated with the board, lit up, descending to the ground, by the sea. Iderum, that imposing phoenix was sitting on top of that transparent seal, inside the clones seemed to be praying, while they continued looking at the moon, which had reached its highest point, meaning that it was already midnight. The board lit up, taking on a fire-colored hue with symbols and algorithms with dark tones.

"Are you okay, Gaara?" Temari asked, approaching Kankurō with difficulty, due to her exhaustion and injuries.

"Oh, I'm fine," replied the redhead, who could still stand without effort, the only thing that was destroyed was his clothes and some other slight injuries.

"So, all this is over, right? What a relief," Kankurō added with laughter in his voice.

And so the siblings continued talking among themselves.

Iderum, who watched fiercely the place where his defeated mistress laid, fought at a mental crossroad, he did not know whether to act or not, according to what they had agreed.

"Please... Iderum... Accept to fight by my side..."

That voice in his head, had taken him out of his indecision. He spread his wings and rushed to where the Kazekage and his siblings were, and taking advantage of their fatigue, he took his mistress in his claws and then returned to the place where the altar would open the portal.

"I accept to fight by your side Anngelius," the beast said as he placed her on the ground, and woke her up by returning some of her chakra.

"Thanks... Iderum... I..." Articulated barely the Taiyō as she stood up with difficulty. "I... I do not intend to lose, tonight we will be liberated from the hell to which we both have been subjected to... " She took a kunai from her tools, and she tore her entire arm, causing a huge wound, blood became plentiful.

"Ninja art, hermit jutsu: Animal mimicry!"

A light invaded the body, both of the mistress and the beast. A large blizzard was created around them, to later give way to a being, that when touched the ground, produced an expansive wave.

"What the hell..." Expressed the chestnut brother, seeing that his other siblings were silently observing the being that had appeared in the short distance.

With just flapping its wings, it caused a strong blizzard, even more powerful than Temari's fan.

That being was monstrous, that being was no longer human.

End of the chapter.

Author's notes: If you are reading this from Fanfiction, I notify you that there is a new image in this chapter, where the transformation of Anngelius is shown, and I recommend you see it. You can find it on my Facebook page: "El Mundo Surreal de Ei II" in the Images/"albums"/ "CRONICAS DE LA ARENA" section.

So now you know, bye, bye.


	16. Chapter 15

THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 15.

He crashed to the ground. The wound on his ankle was beginning to cause him great pain, along with the burns on his body.

"No... I can not let myself be overwhelmed by the pain... Ann needs her sword back..." Muttered to himself, the clone, overworking himself, rising again, continuing his way.

The will of his few memories was what motivated him to continue.

He did not know how much had happened since the first time he saw her. Would it be about twelve hours or a day? His first conversation was not very pleasant, but he had the strong impulse to keep talking to her.

The lights of the place lit up, making the scope of his sight extend. His other fellow clones were kept in that unconscious state of which only he had managed to awaken.

The young woman did not communicate with him, even though she saw him as he was staring at her waiting for her to speak to him.

He supported his soft hands again in that crystalline wall that separated him from that dry and empty world. He swallow some of the amniotic fluid that covered him, causing a serious discomfort inside, a short period of hiccups.

It was then that the Taiyō, decided to communicate with him.

"Don't ever try to open your mouth, that condition can hurt you, if something happens to you, all the blame will fall on me," she said this, in the mind of the clone.

A great emotion invaded the redheaded clone, he knew she was scolding him, but that did not bother him, on the contrary, he was glad to know that he caught her attention.

 _"How long before I can leave this place? I would like to see with my eyes, what you call "sky"," expressed the clone as he returned to stick to his glass, fixing his eyes on his creator._

 _"Not long, a few days, a week and a half at most," Ann said, checking the ducts and other programs connected to the huge tubes._

 _"I am anxious to leave... There are many things I want to do," the clone added._

Anngelius remained silent at that latest statement from the clone. She stopped rummaging around the scientific artifacts she had around her. She got up from her place, to stand right in front of the containment tube where the clone was.

 _"You should not be thrilled to know this world... Your purpose is far from the light of the sky, which you long to contemplate," Ann pointed out, taking a small chocolate bar from her medical gown, beginning to devour it in front of him._

The redheaded clone focused his attention on that bar of unknown material that the Taiyō ingested.

 _"What is that of which you feed? Does it taste good?" He inquired._

 _"It's called "chocolate" and yes, it's delicious."_

 _"Can I try it once I get out of here?"_

 _I do not see why you can't, although..." She hesitated, "You may not like it, your original, according to reports, dislikes sweets."_

 _"I see ... and tell me, how is the person I was cloned from? He opened his eyes curiously._

 _"Well ... He's identical to you. Or rather, you are identical to him."_

 _"But ... I do not know how I am..." He expressed discouraged._

Ann averted her eyes with indifference, she herself did not know why she was answering the concerns of such a being. She disconnected the sensor that communicated them.

She walked away from the place, walking in silence.

" _Wait! Don't leave, I don't want to stay alone, please, I will not bother you with more questions, come back..."_ He hit the glass, trying to get her attention.

But it was in vain, Ann disappeared from the scene, leaving him alone. He detached himself from the glass and pulled back his hands and feet. His face fell again.

But within minutes, the Taiyō reappeared, carrying with her a large mirror, it seems that she had gone for it.

 _"Now you can see how your image is, I pity you, you are as ugly as a red wart," she expressed after reconnecting the contraption with which she communicated, putting the mirror in front of the clone._

This one stuck to the glass and watched closely, he saw the wires and extensions that came out of his back, his red hair flaming in his watery world, the strange color that he had in his eyes and the contour of these, but none of this caused him dread , until he notice that he was completely naked.

Suddenly he became a ball, trying to cover himself as much as possible so that his creator would not see him.

 _"Don't tell me you just noticed your nakedness, no doubt you're a naive creature," The Taiyō pushed the mirror away, seeing that she had already accomplished her goal._

 _"You did not tell me anything about it..." The clone ducked his head, feeling a great insecurity. "Why do I not look like the others? My appearance is different..."_

 _"You are different? We are all without equal, even you, even though you are the copy of someone else."_

 _"I'm glad to hear that…"_

Anngelius was still looking at him with the same expressionless face she always carried.

 _"Do you really think you can be happy despite being imposed on your destiny? How is it that you avoid feeling distressed about it?"_ The blonde put a hand in the container tube, while her expression became sad.

 _"I suppose that if you can be happy in this world, I can be happy, in spite of my origin; it's what I have deduced in this short time that I have been aware,_ " said the clone.

Ann ripped off the device that allowed her to communicate with him. And showing an aggressive look on her face, she articulated some words that were inaudible.

Then, its creator, went away towards the central monitor that controlled the place, extinguishing all the lights and disappearing from his sight.

 _""I'm not happy" Is that what you expressed on your lips? Why did it bother you so much to talk about that?,"_ the clone thought, while taking advantage of the darkness of the place to extend his body again.

He just wanted to understand his creator and the world around him. But he was ignorant of what was hidden outside that crystalline tube that protected him.

End of the chapter.

 **Note from the author:**

I am sorry about the short extension of the chapter, it's that I did not have much time. TnT Also, I [was] preparing a surprise... 7u7 I will inform you about it later. The next chapter will be quite exciting, so I decided to give you a break with this memory of Ann and the clone, believe me, is essential for the development of the story.


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